Bishop Tawadros has been chosen as the new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians, becoming leader of the largest Christian minority in the Middle East. His name was selected from a glass bowl by a blindfolded boy at a ceremony in Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral. Three candidates had been shortlisted.
“I was quite surprised three weeks ago when I was told the Holy Father wished me to serve in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. … Together we accept this mission and in the eyes of faith, we allow God to surprise us, because we know that God is faithful.” Since Aug. 2010, Archbishop Tobin has been secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
We’re finally here! After months of travelling, shooting, scripting and editing, our newest Salt+Light series is now live for the whole world to see. Last night, we launched the premiere of our NEW 15-part series.
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor tells Cole Moreton and Edward Malnick that the Catholic Church is in rude health and he is still, aged 80, its faithful servant Cormac. Murphy-O’Connor could have been wearing ermine and sitting in the House of Lords by now.
Once a central part of Catholicism, Confession has declined almost to vanishing point. Researching a book on confession these past two years, I have found it difficult to ascertain reliable figures. Questionnaires on religious practice in the UK and Europe no longer even itemise the rate of attendance.
Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Lebanon, saying that he comes “as a pilgrim of peace, as a friend of God and as a friend of men”. In his remarks at a welcoming ceremony at Beirut’s airport, Pope Benedict praised Lebanon, with a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, for its distinctive record of “coexistence and respectful dialogue”.
"In Russia, possibly for the first time since the (1917 Bolshevik) revolution, the rule of the Church's separation from the state, proclaimed as a result of the October Revolution, is being followed quite closely," Kirill said in an interview with Polish media before a visit to Poland.
Reprisals against clergy who resisted illicit ordination. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Harbin where the illicit ordination took place on July 6. The government is exacting revenge against seven priests in Heilongjiang province who resisted the illicit episcopal ordination of Father Joseph Yue Fusheng in Harbin earlier this month, local Church sources say.
A priest involved in preparations for the Olympics says the Games will be an extraordinary moment for Catholics in Britain. Viewed with the optic of faith the Olympic Games (July 27 to August 12) and the Paralympics (August 29 to September 9) may reveal the glory of God that is, as St Irenaeus of Lyon said, humanity fully alive.
For five centuries England has been in denial about the role of Roman Catholicism in shaping it. The coin in your pocket declares the monarch to be Defender of the Faith. Since 1558 that has meant the Protestant faith, but Henry VIII actually got the title from the Pope for defending Catholicism against Luther. The destruction of most of the libraries, music and art of England was not a religious breakthrough but a cultural calamity
"Confusion characterizes Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. Not one but three groups claim legitimacy as the national church of the predominantly Eastern Christian country." Watching "Europe 12 - Football Competition" helps us to think beyond sports and kicking a ball entertaiment. How is the Church in Ukraine?
Jesus not only promised the coming of the Spirit, he also communicated to his disciples the day of the Resurrection as the first paschal gift, and the day of Pentecost as the outpouring of the Spirit on the young Church, gathered together in prayer around Mary.
“It is very likely that the faithful have to quietly pass Pentecost this Sunday, one of the four major church feasts widely celebrated in China, as they did so at Easter,” a source told UCA News. To avoid arrest, underground priests remain in hiding and cannot carry out normal pastoral work because they have refused to support the patriotic association, the source said.
The two day long Conference, in consultation with CoR of England and Wales, is being organised by the Claretian Missionaries, who maintain in different countries Institutes for Consecrated Life: like those in Rome, Madrid, Manila, Bangalore and the new ones in Argentina and Nigeria.
The Sistine Chapel Choir, the Cappella Musicale Pontificia ‘Sistina,’ performed its first ever concert in Britain at Westminster Cathedral last Sunday. 6th of May. The Sistine Chapel Choir is the Holy Father’s personal choir and consists of 20 men and 35 boys (aged 8 to 13) along with its director, Monsignor Massimo Palombella.
He added that "the ultimate goal is full, visible unity", although "we should also aim toward the attainable goals on the way and a very important one is to deepen our witness together especially in public life".
‘The future depends on the possibility of dialogue between the old and new orders’.
Religious life is like the wheel: people keep on reinventing it. This is good in so far as it shows the Lord reinvigorating this important part of the Church’s life. What’s problematic is that new religious orders soon make the sorts of mistakes from which experience could save them while the old orders quietly fade away for lack of new life.
On Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Benedict XVI asked families, communities and local parishes to help young men in discerning their vocation to the priesthood. “In particular, families are the first environment into which ‘breathes’ the love of God, which gives inner strength even in the midst of the difficulties and trials of life.”
Most bishops in Britain are faced with the dilemma of how to respond to a shortage of priests and fewer practising Catholics. Here, a rural parish priest envisages a larger role for laypeople to keep churches open.
Bishop Methodius Qu Ailin was ordained today, the second prelate this year to be ordained with both the Vatican’s approval and recognized by the Chinese government. The ceremony took place at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Changsha city, with Bishop Joseph Liu Xinhong of Anhui – an illicitly ordained prelate – taking part.
