World News
South Sudan seminary limits students as it confronts challenges
JUBA, South Sudan (CNS) — Already facing a shortage of priests, the Catholic Church in the world’s newest nation has closed a portion of its seminary, leaving dozens of young men stranded on the road to the priesthood. When classes start at the end of October at St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Juba, only 64 […]
Evangelization must flow from experience, Anglican leader tells synod
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Evangelization is not a project, but the natural “overflow” of an experience of Christ and his church that transforms lives, giving them meaning and joy, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion told Pope Benedict XVI and the Synod of Bishops. “Those who know little and care even less about the […]
At anniversary Mass, pope recalls ‘authentic spirit’ of Vatican II
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the "authentic spirit" of Vatican II by re-proposing the church's ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. The pope spoke at a special Mass in St. Peter's Square Oct. 11, half a century to the day after the opening ceremonies of Vatican II. About 400 bishops from around the world, including 15 of the 70 surviving members of the 1962-65 council, attended. Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury attended as special guests.
Head of Legion of Christ, Regnum Christi hands powers to vicar general
ROME (CNS) — Citing health concerns, the head of the Legionaries of Christ handed over his governing powers to the order’s second highest official for an indefinite period of time. Legionary Father Alvaro Corcuera made the announcement in an Oct. 9 letter posted on the congregation’s website. “I do not have the health and energy […]
US bishops, at synod, talk of spirit and practice of evangelization
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Charitable works, rites of passage and the cultural mixing produced by globalization all offer opportunities for bringing lapsed Catholics back into the fold, but success in such efforts depends on personal repentance and collective inspiration, U.S. bishops told a Vatican gathering Oct. 9. On the second working day of the world […]
Cardinal Wuerl: Synod strives to turn back ‘tsunami of secularism’
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At the Synod of Bishops, which opens Oct. 7 with a papal Mass in St. Peter's Square, some 250 prelates from around the world will meet for three weeks to talk and pray about the new evangelization. Long after the bishops have expressed their diverse views, Pope Benedict XVI will have the last word in an authoritative document of reflections called a post-synodal apostolic exhortation. In the meantime, none of the participants has a better overview of the Vatican gathering, or of the questions it will examine, than Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.
Papal blessings: Not as easy as it looks
Some blessings go well… Some, not so much…
Pope, at Marian shrine, entrusts Year of Faith, synod to Mary
LORETO, Italy (CNS) — During a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Pope Benedict XVI formally entrusted to Mary the world Synod of Bishops and the Year of Faith. The pope was marking the 50th anniversary of Blessed John XXIII’s visit to the Marian shrine, about 175 miles northwest of Rome, when […]
Shanghai’s priests, nuns forced to attend government classes
SHANGHAI (CNS) — Priests and nuns in the Shanghai Diocese were forced to attend compulsory “study classes,” which observers believe were imposed by Chinese authorities in response to the new Shanghai auxiliary’s renunciation of the Catholic Patriotic Association. In September, approximately 80 diocesan priests and 80 nuns of the Our Lady of Presentation Congregation were […]
Digital dilemma: Church needs to show how Gospel is best search result
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Having a Catholic presence online isn’t enough for effective evangelization, the Vatican said. The church must develop “a new way of thinking” in order to find ways that engage and help people meet Christ, it said. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications announced Sept. 29 that Pope Benedict XVI had chosen […]