Pope recites prayer he wrote at 100th anniversary celebrations of apparitions at Our Lady of Fatima shrine in Portugal. Honor the believing, tender Mary, not a 'plaster statue'. Mary's example of believing and following Jesus is what matters most; she cannot be some image "of our own making" who Christians barter with for mercy, Pope Francis said.
"I come to you in the joy of sharing with you the Gospel of hope and peace," the pope said in the message released by the Vatican on 10 May. Pope Francis was to embark on a two-day visit to Fatima 12-13 May to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions, which began 13 May, 1917, when three shepherd children reported seeing the Virgin Mary.
The Catholic Bishops' Commission for Youth and the Christian Communication Center is organizing a workshop to encourage young Catholics to take up writing and journalism. Some 41 young Catholics from eight dioceses will participate in the 25th National Writers Workshop at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh center on May 9-13.
Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland next year and the appointment this week of a new papal ambassador to Great Britain throws into the spotlight an unresolved and potentially awkward diplomatic question: does the Holy See recognise the United Kingdom?
World peace cannot be based on false sense of security these weapons provide, he tells UN conference. Today's threats to global peace and security must be countered through dialogue and development, not nuclear weapons, Pope Francis told the United Nations.
Father Philip D'Rozario considers assisting people in distress as his foremost duty as priest. Bangladesh's senior priest talks 50 years of service. Father Philip D'Rozario is a man full of life. He has a welcoming face and a strong, energetic posture as if he could attend a new mission tomorrow.
Pontiff uses Palm Sunday Mass to decry Sweden, Egypt attacks Love Jesus in all who suffer, pope says. Jesus does not ask that people only contemplate his image, but that they also recognize and love him concretely in all people who suffer like he did, Pope Francis said.
The tiny village of Antezana de Foronda in the green countryside of the Basque country, Spain, has only 100 inhabitants but its sixteenth-century church St Michael the Archangel has made news headlines by undergoing a miraculous transformation from a dull neglected space into a palace illuminated from floor to ceiling with vibrant biblical and historical murals.
Through an interpreter, Magellan told the natives that the expedition was sent by the king of Spain to "spread the Catholic faith" and convert people to the "true religion." Some historical accounts indicated that on March 19, the Spaniards celebrated Mass and planted a cross near the shores of Homonhon.
Hear confession every time someone asks, Pope Francis said, and don't ever put limited hours on the sacrament of reconciliation. "Please, let there never be those signs that say, 'Confessions: Mondays and Wednesdays from this time to that time,'" he told hundreds of confessors and other participants attending an annual course sponsored by the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court that handles issues related to the absolution of sin.
The migration crisis that has brought thousands of migrants to the gates of Europe is far from over. The incoming French government will need to imagine new solutions to avoid multiplying camps such as those at Calais and Paris
For several decades, the UK sent children across the world to new lives in institutions where many were abused and used as forced labour. It's a scandal that is still having repercussions now. Imagine the 1950s, imagine being a child an orphan perhaps, living in an British children's home; imagine being told that shortly you would board a ship for somewhere called Australia, to begin a new life in a sunlit wonderland. For good. No choice. It happened to thousands of British children in the decades immediately following World War Two.
Madrid, Spain, Feb 16, 2017 / 01:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Father Alberto Gaton is the chaplain of a Spanish ship that combats human trafficking by rescuing people in the Mediterranean Sea. In the span of almost 5 months, his team has managed to rescue more than 3,000 people.
A shift in pastoral approaches is needed to keep up wih the transitions of modern society The church at the crossroadsWe are seeing a world in transition and the church in transition with society. There are essential things; there are accidentals. Spiritual wisdom is knowing what we can change and what we cannot change.
The global crisis of refugees is "a complex problem," Cardinal Tagle said, "but we can't close our eyes to some of the good things they are giving to the countries that receive them, if they are given a chance."
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) has published a book seeking to provide better understanding of what happens to children left behind by their migrant worker parents.
Pope Francis reveals how he shrugs off stress: 'I'm not on tranquilisers'. Pontiff tells how anxiety he sometimes experienced as bishop of Buenos Aires disappeared after his elevation to papacy.
Some 500 people living with HIV and their children attended a special fair for Tet, the Vietnamese new year in the compound of Dong Tien Church on Jan. 21. Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc of Ho Chi Minh City also visited and gave his best wishes to attendees.
Father Totet Banaybal's goal is not to change local culture but show people the 'goodness of the church' Filipino Jesuit finds home in Cambodian mission. Totet Banaybal, a Filipino Jesuit student, had to learn a lot of things when he first went to Cambodia in 1994. "It was not easy," he recalls. Everything was unlike what he was used to back home, such as removing his shoes before someone’s home.
A statue of Our Lady of Fatima blessed by Pope Francis started its Asian pilgrimage with Hong Kong as its first stop to celebrate the centennial of the Marian apparition in Portugal. Pope Francis blessed six Centennial Pilgrim Statues of Our Lady of Fatima at the Vatican on Jan. 11 before sending them on tour in six continents. Hong Kong is the first place in the world where a statue landed.