The decision to keep the cap marks a crossroads for Catholic education. The Catholic community should be proud of its schools, but if it is to secure their future it has to recognise the new and more hostile political reality. Most crucially, it must make the most of its assets – the communities of people in each school who make them the success they are.
For example, it can propose contemplation sessions, a very open prayer with a ritual gesture, where families would be welcomed just as they are today. The spiritual demand is enormous. The need for a break, too.
China's two main Protestant organizations have launched a five-year blueprint that includes writing a secular version of the Bible. They agreed to cooperate with the principle of Sinicization; to insist on self-government; to reflect the core values of socialism; and to espouse the leadership of the Communist Party.
There is of course no need for Catholic leaders in India to actively proclaim a refusal to participate in nationalist projects; this would be a foolhardy venture in the current climate. But there is similarly no need for us to contribute to nationalist rhetoric by asking that we become more Indian. Our call is to be more Christian, loving all without distinction.
At the heart of the opposition to Amoris Laetitia is the fear that, in opening the door to the readmission of divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion in some circumstances, the Pope is changing traditional Church teaching. I don’t think that, strictly speaking, this does amount to a development of doctrine.
American veterans who fought in the Vietnam War are offering hundreds of bicycles to poor students as way to ease people's suffering in parts of the country still dealing with the effects of the conflict. "We want to supply these bicycles for Vietnamese students from poor families in remote areas so that they can pursue their studies," said Michael Shuman, a former U.S. Marine.
A bishop visited Catholics — many whom were from ethnic minorities — in a mountainous part of north-western Vietnam over the Easter triduum, a first since Catholicism was introduced to the area over a century ago. Accompanied by two priests and two seminarians, Bishop John Mary Vu Tat of Hung Hoa paid pastoral visits to nine parishes, subparishes and mission stations in Yen Bai province March 28-April 1.
“A Woman’s Voice: Conversations of Discernment and Grace” is a very important and timely documentary, to premiere on Easter Sunday 2018 on Salt and Light TV, Canada’s Catholic Television Network. The date was no coincidence: for what better launch date could there be for a documentary about some outstanding and astounding women than Easter?
On Holy Saturday, China's communist government, deep in talks with the Vatican on a deal to appoint bishops, issued a ban on internet sales of the Bible. Four days later, it issued its first white paper on religious freedom in 21 years, only a week after hauling Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin of Mindong away from his diocese for a few days during Holy Week.
Sr Kathleen is one of 20 or so religious sisters who took part in an oral history project – the Witness seminars – initiated by independent scholar Dr Dianne Kirby and Lisa Isherwood, professor of feminist liberation theologies at the University of Winchester. The seminars record the largely untold story of the role of Catholic nuns during the Troubles.
Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter! Jesus is risen from the dead! This message resounds in the Church the world over, along with the singing of the Alleluia: Jesus is Lord; the Father has raised him and he lives forever in our midst.
Ordained in 1965, the young Fr O’Brien worked in parishes before becoming spiritual director at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange, a seminary that closed in 1986, and then Rector at St Mary’s College, Blairs, another seminary that has since closed. He was installed as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in 1985 and appointed to the College of Cardinals in 2003.
'I think that only his Christian faith, animated by love, could have demanded of him this superhuman sacrifice' With a rare act of bravery that ended in tragedy, Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame has become a hero to the French and a symbol of selfless service inspired by his patriotism and Christian faith.
Christians are obliged during Lent to honor those who have suffered as a result of gross rights violations. During this season of repentance for Christians, there is a need to really reflect on Jesus' passion and death. He has become a paragon of selflessness and genuine love. He challenges everyone to a supreme sacrifice.
Massimo Franco, the political editor of Corriere della Sera and widely respected commentator on the Vatican, said this week (Wednesday) that he believes the “revolutionary appeal of Pope Francis is almost over”. There was, Franco said, growing resentment over the contrast between Francis’ easy and direct contact with ordinary people and his less happy and often fractious relationship with his “ecclesiastical army”.
Indian Catholics have begun Lent by asserting the different ways in which they observe the period. For most Catholics in India, as in other parts of the world, Lent runs for 40 days from Ash Wednesday, which this year fell on Feb. 14. But the two Eastern Catholic churches in India start Lent on a Monday, two days earlier to Ash Wednesday, making Lent a 50-day season.
It really has been a turbulent time for sexual politics this past six months. Weinstein is but the tip of the iceberg. We have the #MeToo movement, and a growing list of prominent peopleaccused of various degrees of sexual misconduct, though it is often hard to distinguish these degrees and so gain a proper perspective and sense of proportion.
L’invito è quindi a rallentare il «nostro passo» e prendere «coscienza dei nostri bisogni». A riporre in Dio la nostra sete «di relazioni, di accettazione e di amore», «un patrimonio biografico», afferma il teologo portoghese, che è presente in ogni essere umano dall’infanzia alla vecchiaia e che «siamo chiamati a riconoscere e ringraziare».
The Philippine Senate has approved a bill that will declare the last Monday of January each year as "National Bible Day" to celebrate the Christian faith and reflect on the Scriptures.The bill was tabled by boxing champion-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao. "National Bible Day" would allow Christians "to unite and celebrate the Holy Bible as the cradle of the Christian faith," said the senator.
Popular Indonesian television presenter Daniel Mananta has put his Catholic faith into practice in a far-flung corner of the sprawling archipelago. The TV celebrity was impressed by the way local Catholics would walk many kilometers to attend services in the run-down chapel in Ruteng Diocese. "I was touched by the experience and wanted to fix the church," said Mananta, 36, the first of two brothers from a family of retail merchants.