Crisis—Our Lady of Guadalupe was there at Lepanto, hearkening to the Rosary recited by the soldiers processing round the decks, her quiet, pregnant power blazing at that apocalyptic battle with all the splendor of the star-crowned Woman of Revelation. Most Catholics wouldn’t consider the motherly image of Our Lady of Guadalupe a martial image. The…
More than 1,000 (some accounts report 2,000) construction workers, craftsmen and artisans — in five years — restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Better than ever. The cost of rebuilding Notre Dame is reported to be about $767 million, with a reported $928 million in donations pouring in from 340,000 donors in 150 countries,…
ACI Africa, CNA—A U.K.-based human rights foundation condemned the forced conversion of Christians to Islam in Sudan following the arbitrary arrest of 12 Christian men by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) military intelligence unit. The 12 men were part of a group of 26, most of whom are Christians and were reportedly detained at a…
VN—Amid the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Maronite Catholic Bishops discuss how the violence has led to thousands of people being forced to leave their homes. The Maronite bishops have expressed their “sorrow in the face of the horror of the disaster” in Lebanon following Israel’s recent attacks on the country, which have caused…
Ukranian Catholic University (UCU)—In memory of UCU student Daria Bazylevych, her mother, Yevhenia, and sisters Yaryna and Emilia, Ukrainian Catholic University, together with her father, Yaroslav Bazylevych, and Plast, the national scoutingorganization of Ukraine, has started an endowed scholarship fund. The goal is to collect $100,000, allowing UCU students to receive scholarships annually. The scholarship…
What can Catholic business professionals and diocesan priests learn from Trappist nuns in Muslim Indonesia? Quite a lot it turns out! CNA—As Pope Francis prepares to visit Indonesia, the founding superior of a monastery in Java shares what life is like for Catholics in a majority-Muslim country. Mary keeps her foot on the snakes When…
VN—Aug 6, 2024—Ten years after so-called Islamic State massacred Christians and Yazidis, the Patriarch of Baghdad tells Vatican News that suffering unites all Iraqis: “We are all responsible for each other, and when we die, God will not ask if I am a Christian or a Muslim, but ‘What have you done for your brother?’”…
CNA—As part of its Memorandum of Understanding agreement (MoU) and partnership with the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has successfully sent a second aid delivery to the people of northern Gaza. In a July 24 press release, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — a diocese that includes Jordan, Cyprus, Palestine, and…
CNA—For more than a year, the people of Sudan — one of the largest countries in Africa — have suffered under a brutal civil war that has reduced the capital, Khartoum, to a war zone. Amid the chaos and a complex set of competing political interests, children and the poor have been hit hardest. Just…
CNA—05-10-24—Construction is nearing completion on the St. Charbel Maronite Church in Doha, Qatar, with plans to open its doors to worshippers in 2025, coinciding with the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, according to Father Charbel Mhanna from Qatar’s Maronite parish. In an interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Mhanna explained that with a capacity…
CNA/ACI Prensa—Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, finally took possession on May 1 of his assigned titular church in Rome after having postponed the ceremony due to the war in the Holy Land. Part of the process of becoming a cardinal is being assigned a titular church in Rome known as his…
CNA—Voters in Ireland appear to have voted to preserve the country’s constitutional recognition of the central role of the traditional family founded on marriage as well as the societal value of women within the home, rejecting a pair of referendums held March 8, pro-referendum government leaders conceded Saturday. “It does look like a ‘no’ vote…
CWR/Vatican News—During Mass on Sunday morning, February 25, 2024, the pastor was among the 15 Catholic civilians killed in a Catholic Church in Essakane-Village, in the diocese of Dori, in the northeast of Burkina Faso, Africa. The diocese of Dori, which released the information in an obituary press release, invites people to pray for the…
CNA—Russian leaders on Friday announced the death of Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition politician to President Vladimir Putin, in a Siberian prison. Navalny, 47, had been serving a 19-year sentence in a harsh penal colony north of the Arctic Circle for alleged extremism and years of criticism of the authoritarian Putin. Navalny’s political opposition to…
ACI Prensa—Four bishops from the Mexican state of Guerrero recently met with members of organized crime in an effort to seek peace in a region shaken by violent clashes and death. During a Feb. 14 press conference, Bishop José de Jesús González of the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa said that the prelates of the area “began…
Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam)—The World Health Organization (WHO) has put off a decision to admit a radical pro-abortion organization into official relations and launch a three-year collaboration. The proposed partnership with the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) drew sharp criticism from a coalition of pro-life groups led by C-Fam (publisher of the…
CNA—This past week in the Holy Land, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a group of young people in their 20s actively participated in all various ecumenical prayer services. They were German-speaking theology students enrolled in the annual program of ecumenical studies (called “Studienjahr”), which has been offered for 50 years at the…
CNA—Pope Francis on Thursday accepted the resignation of Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, based in India, commending the prelate’s faithfulness after decades of leadership in that Church. At the same time, the Holy Father addressed an ongoing bitter dispute in the archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, directing the faithful there to accept…
Dearest Brothers and Sisters, May the Lord give you Peace! Tonight’s Gospel echoes the voice of a deep feeling, which I believe we all share: “there was no room for them” (Lk. 2:7). As it was for Mary and Joseph so it seems for us today that there is no room for Christmas. For too…
Christians in Jerusalem began the weekend before Christmas with an evening of prayer and music. On Friday, Dec. 22, in the Church of St. Saviour, the Latin parish of Jerusalem, a small crowd of faithful gathered around the patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for the penitential liturgy and Christmas carols performed by the three choirs of…
