Category: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pope Francis celebrates morning Mass in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, at the Vatican Oct. 29, 2019. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Like water, Christians become stagnant if not moving, pope says

Posted by - November 2, 2019

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians can become stagnant if they do not have the crashing waves of hope moving in their lives, Pope Francis said. “Hope is this living in tension, always; knowing that we cannot make a nest here: the life of the Christian is ‘in a forward-moving tension.’ If a Christian loses this

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A Philippine army member inspects damage inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel following a bomb blast in Jolo Jan. 27, 2019. The explosion, just before morning Mass, killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens of others. (CNS photo/Armed Forces of the Philippines via Reuters)

Report: Persecution of Christians worse in Asia; Mideast might not recover

Posted by - November 2, 2019

Christianity is disappearing from towns and cities in parts of the Middle East, warns a new report from the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need. It also said that persecution of Christians “has worsened the most” in South and East Asia. Urgent action by the international community is needed to prevent more Christians

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Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Oct. 26, 2019, at the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. Biden attended morning Mass Oct. 27 at St. Anthony Church in Florence and was refused Communion by the pastor, Father Robert E. Morey, over Biden's support for legal abortion. (CNS photo/Sam Wolfe, Reuters)

Biden denied Communion at Mass during stop in South Carolina

Posted by - November 2, 2019

FLORENCE, S.C. (CNS) — Former Vice President Joe Biden attended the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony Church Oct. 27 and when he presented himself to receive the Eucharist was refused by the pastor. “Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Father Robert Morey wrote in

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Deacon Elmer Herrera-Guzman, a fourth-year theology student, gestures alongside his artwork during an interview with a Catholic News Service reporter at Theological College in Washington Oct. 25, 2019. Studying to be ordained a priest of the Diocese of Dallas, he is in his final year at the college. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

Seminarian preaches with paint; artwork also ‘helps out’ his own prayer

Posted by - November 2, 2019

WASHINGTON (CNS) — For Deacon Elmer Herrera-Guzman, painting is an act of prayer. On his easel, a peacock bursts into color. It fans out its feathers in bold green and blue strokes. Deacon Herrera-Guzman points to a completed piece, a pelican with a white pelican chick nested at its feet. Pelicans are ancient symbols of

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God's creation must be treated "not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God," Pope Francis said. He celebrated Mass Oct. 27 to mark the end of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, which brought together bishops, priests and religious, and lay men and women, including indigenous people, from the nine Amazonian countries. Synod participants, some wearing their native dress and feathered headdresses, led the procession into St. Peter's Basilica. During the offertory, an indigenous woman presented the pope with a plant. Their presence was a reminder of the pope's rebuke to a bishop who had made a derogatory comment about an indigenous man wearing his headdress at the synod's opening Mass on Oct. 6. Instead of using a crosier made of precious metals, the pope carried a carved wooden crosier that the Vatican said was a gift from the synod. During the assembly, participants described the environmental devastation and social problems caused by mining in the Amazon. Pope Francis' homily about the Gospel parable of the self-righteous Pharisee and the tax collector drew parallels to the situation in the Amazon. It also appeared to address critics who have called the synod heretical. The Pharisee was "the most pious and devout figure of the time, and the tax collector, the public sinner par excellence," Pope Francis said. But in Jesus' eyes, "the one who is good but presumptuous fails; the one who is a disaster but humble is exalted by God." The Pharisee "stands in the temple of God, but he practices another religion, the religion of 'I,' and many popular groups, Christian and Catholic, follow this path," Pope Francis said. "The drama of this man is that he is without love." In contrast, the tax collector's prayer for mercy "is born from the heart," the pope said. "To pray is to stand before God’s eyes, without illusions, excuses or justifications." Everyone is both Pharisee and tax collector, the pope said. "We are a bit tax collectors because we are sinners, and a bit Pharisees because we are … masters of the art of self-justification." The Pharisee's attitude is apparent in "those who are prominent" considering others to be "backward and of little worth, despise their traditions, erase their history, occupy their lands, and usurp their goods," he added. The pope's words echoed the accounts of indigenous observers at the synod, who described a history of plundering of timber, rubber, minerals and other natural resources in the Amazon. That rapaciousness has displaced people from their land and spurred violence, including human trafficking and the murder of people who try to defend their territories. "In this synod we have had the grace of listening to the voices of the poor and reflecting on the precariousness of their lives," Pope Francis said. The "scarred face of the Amazon region," he said, shows that past experience has not been enough "to stop the plundering of other persons and the inflicting of wounds on our brothers and sisters and on our sister earth." The pope's language throughout the synod has echoed the words of his namesake, St. Francis, who praised God through his brothers, wind and air, and his sister, Mother Earth. Nevertheless, the gathering was sharply criticized by some Catholic groups that claimed it was heretical. The critics, who were active on social media during the synod, also claimed that a carved image of a pregnant indigenous woman that was used during some prayer services was a pagan idol. Pope Francis urged his listeners to reflect on "whether we, too, may think that someone is inferior and can be tossed aside, even if only in our words." "Self-worship carries on hypocritically with its rites and 'prayers,'" the pope said, adding that many people who fall into self-worship "profess to be Catholics, but have forgotten to be Christians and human beings, forgetting the true worship of God, which is always expressed in love of one's neighbor." Calling the poor "the gatekeepers of heaven," he said, "they were not considered bosses in this life. They did not put themselves ahead of others. They had their wealth in God alone. These persons are living icons of Christian prophecy." The pope paused during his homily to acknowledge the presence of "the poorest people of our most developed societies, the sick from the L'Arche Community," who were seated in the front rows in the basilica. He encouraged his listeners to "associate with the poor, to remind ourselves that we are poor, to remind ourselves that the salvation of God operates only in an atmosphere of interior poverty." "Let us pray for the grace to be able to listen to the cry of the poor," Pope Francis said. "This is the cry of hope of the church."

Christians must shun self-worship, pope says at synod’s final Mass

Posted by - November 2, 2019

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God’s creation must be treated “not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God,” Pope Francis said. He celebrated Mass Oct. 27 to mark the end of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon,

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Students from St. Alphonsus/St. Patrick Catholic School in Lemont, Ill., pray Oct. 19, 2019, during Holy Fire Chicago at the Credit Union 1 Arena. The Oct. 18 and 19 event in Chicago drew about 7,500 young people from parish religious education programs and Catholic schools with their teachers, catechists, youth ministers, chaperones and pastors from several states to dance, laugh, pray and worship. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)

Students sing, dance, share their Catholic faith at Holy Fire Chicago

Posted by - November 2, 2019

CHICAGO (CNS) — About 7,500 middle school students sang, danced and shared their faith Oct. 18 and 19 at Holy Fire Chicago, a gathering intended to help students in sixth to ninth grade reflect on and witness to their Catholic faith in a daylong event. Most of the attendees Oct. 18 were Catholic school students,

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Pope Francis talks with Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti, his new lead bodyguard and head of the Vatican police force, as he arrives for his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 16, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope: Evangelization must help, not hinder, people getting closer to God

Posted by - October 26, 2019

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God wants everyone to be saved, which is why those who evangelize must avoid letting their prejudices get in the way of God’s plan, Pope Francis said. “An evangelizer cannot be an obstacle to the creative work of God, who ‘wills everyone to be saved,’ but one who fosters an encounter

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Indigenous women attend Pope Francis' celebration of a Mass marking World Mission Day in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 20, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Mission is to make disciples for Christ, not for one’s group, pope says

Posted by - October 26, 2019

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Every Christian is called to be a missionary, sharing the good news of salvation in Christ and making disciples for him, not for oneself or one’s clique of like-minded believers, Pope Francis said. “What instructions does the Lord give us for going forth to others? Only one, and it’s very simple:

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David and Maria Schuette, seen with their sons, 8-month-old Eli and 18-month-old Isaac, are reaching out to other couples considering adoption. The family, who belongs to SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Kiel, Wis., were at the hospitals for each birth and remain in close communication with their sons' birth parents. (CNS photo/Sam Lucero, The Compass)

Couple says adoption is a blessing, gift and ‘roller coaster of emotions’

Posted by - October 26, 2019

KIEL, Wis. (CNS) — After David and Maria Schuette got married in 2015, they wanted a family right away but months later they found out that infertility issues would likely prevent them from having children of their own. “It was tough knowing that everything I thought about growing a family as a little girl …

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Father Justino Sarmento Rezende, an expert in indigenous spirituality from Brazil, attends a news conference to discuss the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 17, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Celibacy is a gift, not an obstacle, indigenous priest says

Posted by - October 26, 2019

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While indigenous cultures may have difficulty accepting the concept of celibacy, indigenous candidates for the priesthood are more than capable of understanding that it is a gift from God, said an indigenous priest from Brazil. “Celibacy is not something that is born in a human person; it is something that is

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