A Salford priest found an original way to promote the Pope’s special year of prayer and bring a breath of fresh air back into the sacrament of Confession. Fr Frankie Mulgrew responded to the Pope’s Year of Mercy by creating the “Mercy Bus”. This was an actual bus, which was driven around the Salford Diocese all through Lent earlier this year offering blessings and Confession wherever it stopped.
Archbishop Villegas said even people within the church "try to silence the institution" in its promotion of social justice and human rights. According to a report released by the organization, religious freedom has "deteriorated or was drastically hampered in 82 countries" between 2012 and 2014. The report also showed that Christians are currently the "most persecuted minority" in the world.
Parliament joined dozens of landmark sites across London and the UK. Key landmarks were lit in "the colour of blood" on Wednesday evening for the millions persecuted for their faith around the world. Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders took part in the Red Wednesday campaign organised by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to highlight the lack of religious freedom around the world.
Justin Welby talked to Julie Etchingham during his latest visit to Rome about what links and what divides the Catholic Church and the Anglican Community. Pope Francis and Justin Welby had just signed a Common Declaration charting the next steps towards unity.
They came in their thousands, Catholic young people from 10 dioceses in northern Vietnam, to hear again the timeless messages of truth and mercy. More than 20,000 young Catholics attended the "Go and Do Likewise" gathering held by Vinh Diocese at the square in front of the Bishop’s House in Nghe An Province on Nov. 16-17.
P.U. Thomas was 17 years old when he was hospitalized for peptic ulcer. When he saw the hunger in the eyes of a patient in the next bed, he felt compelled to share the food his mother brought from home. From this simple act grew a life of service and a program that now feeds 5,000 people every day.
Kandhamal, the hilly tribal district in eastern India has witnessed several incidents of anti-Christian violence in the past two decades. In August 2008 marauding crowds of Hindu extremists murdered Christians, destroyed churches and convents, set fire to Christian homes and institutions and raped nuns, in what came to be known as the largest persecution of Christians in modern Indian history.
Young people are searching for meaning, and the best response is to go out to where they are, stop and listen to them and then call them to follow Jesus, the pope said Oct. 21.
Church brings relief to flood victims in central Vietnam. Priest traveled by raft in the rain to hand out food to people isolated by floodwater. The diocese of Vinh has given emergency aid to tens of thousands of people who were affected by floods caused by heavy rains and released dam water in central Vietnam.
On Friday, September 30, Pope Francis embarks on his 16th pastoral visit outside Italy, to the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. After his arrival at the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Friday morning, the Holy Father will meet with the president, with government authorities and representatives of civil society, after which he will meet the country’s Orthodox leader Patriarch Elia.
A Columban missionary priest in the Philippines is to receive an international humanitarian award for his lifetime’s work promoting children's rights and welfare. Father Shay Cullen, founder of the Preda Foundation in the Philippines, will receive this year’s Hugh O’Flaherty Humanitarian Award in recognition of his work to protect the rights of exploited children.
“There is a comprehensive programme of relationships and moral education in all Catholic schools that promotes the unique dignity of each person, made in the image and likeness of God,” he said. “Catholic schools work in partnership with parents, local authorities and other agencies to meet the needs of pupils and their families.
Police charge two women with 'indoctrinating minors with superstitious beliefs' September 15, 2016. They were arrested as they prepared to drive a group of children on Aug. 4 to the camp in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Church leaders in the Philippines have urged Catholics "to exercise discipline in the use of technology" amid the Pokemon Go craze, which is seeing people play the game even in churches. Brother Manuel de Leon, president of Notre Dame College in Kidawapan, Mindanao, said that while technology is a "welcome development," young people should be taught about a "technology with a soul."
More than 200 East Asian Christians joined a five-day Taize program of common prayers for peace in Hong Kong Aug. 10–14. It was the first time Hong Kong hosted the gathering although there was a small unofficial one of 50 participants in 2015.
A hero's burial for a former Philippine dictator? Indifference to Marcos funeral controversy highlights church's failure to educate Catholics on political issues A hero's burial for a former Philippine dictator?
The first communion Mass in Alqosh was an historic moment for a “frontier town” that has been under threat from the militants of the Islamic State (IS) for a long time. Now it can “hope for peace and normalcy” around these hundred children, said Mgr Basil Yaldo, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad and close associate of the Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako.
"Our motivation is their learning and growing faith commitment. Through this program Christianity should become a faith that is understood, personalized and integrated in daily life," Father Joseph said.