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Sign of peace at Mass: Vatican says it stays put, but urges education
Posted on August 1st, 2014
In 2005, members of a synod of bishops formally questioned whether the sign of peace should be placed elsewhere in the Mass, for example at the end of the prayer of the faithful and before the offering of the gifts.
Cleric blames surge of rapes in India on pornography, loss of values
Posted on August 1st, 2014
Two rapes have been reported every hour for the last 13 years in India, and the rate of sexual violence is rising despite protests. Activists say many cases go unreported because of stigmatization and intimidation by culprits.
Church workers fight fear, myths as Ebola worsens in Sierra Leone
Posted on August 1st, 2014It is hard for people in Sierra Leone not to lose hope as the death toll rises to 729 in three West African countries and worldwide fear grows over the worst Ebola outbreak on record, said the head of Caritas in the Archdiocese of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
With focus on Gaza, Islamists can kill at will in Iraq, Anglican cleric says
Posted on August 1st, 2014
Some Christian leaders working in Iraq feel that brutal Islamist militants are literally getting away with murder, now that the world’s attention is focused on Gaza’s increasingly desperate situation.
Desperation of people in Gaza spurs violence, church leaders say
Posted on August 1st, 2014
Israeli and Hamas leaders should use binoculars so they could see that “most of your victims are innocent people,” said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of Caritas Internationalis, adding that reconciliation requires recognizing each other as human beings.
Happily married to Jesus
Posted on August 1st, 2014
Dozens of women from across the United States who have vowed their virginity as spouses of Christ discussed their lives and unique roles as consecrated virgins, and what it means for the Catholic Church.
Some seeds take time to cultivate
Posted on August 1st, 2014
Deacon Michael Pascarella, who has been named to lead the permanent diaconate ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, hesitated when he heard God’s call to ordained ministry as a child, as a young man, and as a family man. Then he answered, and by grace, his life and ministry are full.
Meeting 200 Pentecostals, Pope Francis talks of unity
Posted on August 1st, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS) — His voice breaking with emotion, Giovanni Traettino, a Pentecostal pastor in southern Italy and longtime friend of Pope Francis, welcomed the pope, who said he knows people were shocked that he would make a special trip to visit a group of Pentecostals, “but I went to visit my friends.”
High in the Andes, Peruvian artisans create sacred art
Posted on July 31st, 2014
Freddy Cerna is about the same height as the statue he carves from Italian Carrara marble. His backward baseball cap and buggy protective goggles are a sharp contrast to the delicate face he perfects with his carving tools. The statue of Mary, her hands folded in prayer, stares back at him.
Idaho campus ministers see colleges as ‘places of evangelization’
Posted on July 31st, 2014
They are, without a doubt, an odd couple. One is a Jesuit with a history in campus ministry, taking over the reins at St. Paul Catholic Student Center in Boise. The other is a tattooed, earring-and-bandanna-wearing, lifelong youth minister stepping in at St. John Catholic Student Center in Pocatello.