This conference which took place in London last week had a remarkable and unprecedented reception and was organised by the Claretian Missionaries of the United Kingdom & Ireland. Claretian Publications hope to publish the conclusions drawn in these meetings, with both English and Spanish translations, in the very near future.
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.
Recent studies suggest that religious people tend to be happier and more fulfilled in their lives than non-believers. Here, a writer on religion and ethics assesses the evidence and identifies an essential component often missed.
Dion DiMucci tells Rory Fitzgerald that a ‘sudden and brilliant’ encounter inspired him to give up heroin and embrace the faith. He says that Catholics nowadays need to try to “infiltrate the culture”. “That’s our job, I think, to infiltrate the culture.” Not, he explains, to impose, but to expose “what’s important in life and give people an opportunity to see the truth.”
More than 3,500 adults were received into the Catholic Church in England and Wales last week. They included 1,397 catechumens, who had prepared to be baptised, and 1,843 candidates, who had already baptised in another Christian tradition.
We must seek to be messengers of God's love, declares Pope on Easter Monday. Jesus Christ is “present as a force of hope through his Church,” Pope Benedict XVI announced in his Easter greeting addressed to the city of Rome and the world on April 8. In his noon message, the Pope said the risen Lord inspires his Church to remain “close to all human situations of suffering and injustice,” including the persecution of Christians themselves.
A distressing Gallup Poll tells us that more than fifty percent of Catholics do not understand the teaching of the Church on the Eucharist. Furthermore, only one third of their number agree with the Church. But Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "In a world where millions go to bed hungry every night, the only form in which God would dare appear among human beings is food."
"Like the first Apostles, you too must be missionaries of Christ among your relatives, friends and acquaintances, in the places where you study and work, among the poor and the sick. Speak of His love and goodness with simplicity, without fear. Christ Himself will give you the strength to do so.
Complete silence filled Wembley Arena on Saturday afternoon as approximately 8,000 young Catholics adored the Blessed Sacrament. The famous sports arena was host to the Flame Youth Congress which was a day of prayer and praise for young Catholic across Britain.
Reasons for the Pope's trip to Mexico and Cuba: The bicentenary of the independence of the peoples of Latin America; the Mexicans' enthusiastic desire to welcome the Pope; the twentieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Holy See, and the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the image of "Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre" in Cuba.
A week of celebrations mark the bicentenary of Augustus Welby Pugin, one of Catholicism’s great architects. The 200th anniversary of the birth of Augustus Welby Pugin on 1 March 2012 is being marked in England and Ireland with celebrations of Holy Mass, book-launches, exhibitions and lectures in Dublin, Birmingham, Cheadle, Nottingham and Ramsgate.
At least ten per cent of men training for the priesthood in England and Wales are now from non-Catholic backgrounds, with up to half of seminarians in some dioceses raised outside the faith, according to figures obtained by The Tablet.
Are you feeling a bit bewildered by all the complex problems we hear in the news these days ? Are you lacking in inspiration when you have to solve a problem ? Listen to the beautiful sound of the meadow-lark in Ireland or just have a glance at these beautiful Cardinals, preening their feathers in the spring morning air.'Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.'
The Catholic Church does not oppose gay marriage. It considers it to be impossible. If it were possible, then we would have to support it since the Church tells that we must oppose all discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
When I met the Holy Father in 2010 he told me that he had heard what I had been saying and urged me to carry on making my case robustly. I will be arguing that to create a more just society, people need to feel stronger in their religious identities and more confident in their creeds. In practice this means individuals not diluting their faiths and nations not denying their religious heritages.
The news of the death of Father Lawrence Zhang Wenchang has sparked heated words on the popular Chinese website Tianzhujiao Zaixian (Catholic Church online). Some netizens praised Fr Zhang’s fidelity to Rome. He was arrested in 1958 and sent to prison for counter-revolutionary crimes. He received reform-through-labor in a farm from 1962-82, after which he began to visit Catholics and work part-time.
It is good, too, as Pope Benedict reminded us, to remember what we have in common. For years I was Chairman of something called ‘ARCIC - The Anglican-Roman Catholic Ecumenical Commission' - and we used to study together many matters. But the key to our work was a term called, koinonia, which means ‘communion'.
6 February 2012 was a day of both sad reflection and celebration for millions of Britons, as well as the citizens of 15 other countries around the world that count Queen Elizabeth as their Head of State.
The card is designed to be a daily reminder of the carrier's religion. Catholics are being encouraged to carry a "faith card" to remind them of their faith responsibilities. One million credit card-sized cards are being printed to be handed out in dioceses across England and Wales.
