Vietnamese authorities arrested Catholic lawyer
Ho Chi Minh City, June 17, 2009 – Vietnamese authorities arrested Paul Le Cong Dinh (pictured) on Saturday on charges of engaging in "propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," state-run media reported on Sunday. The high-profile 41-year-old Catholic lawyer has defended a number of pro-democracy activists. He has also published accounts of the country’s flawed economic, social and political system.State-run media reported that police found “documents distorting the country's socio-economic policies” in Mr Dinh’s home and office.They have also accused him of libelling Vietnam’s top leaders and of “colluding with domestic and foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese state.’Mr Dinh, who studied in France, has a Master's Degree in Law from Tulane University in Louisiana in the United States.Back home he has defended leading human rights activists, such as fellow lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, who have also been j ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Ranjith Patabendige to head the archdiocese of Colombo
Vatican City, June 17, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don — one of his most trusted collaborators in the Vatican and a forceful advocate for justice and peace — to head the archdiocese of Colombo in Sri LankaA strong leader, he returns as head of the Sri Lankan Church in what many observers see as a particularly difficult moment. A bloody 30-year civil war has just ended with the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers rebels.One of only two Asians in top positions in the Roman Curia — the other being Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples — he succeeds Archbishop Oswald Gomis, who reached the official retirement age of 75 over 18 months ago.The Vatican made the announcement on June 16, confirming rumors that have circulated in Rome for almost two years.Archbishop Ranjith was born in Polgahawela, Sri Lanka, on Nov. 15, 1947 and completed his early studi ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI visibly upset to hear Irish children abuse
Dublin, June 9, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI was visibly upset to hear June 5 of the abuse suffered by thousands of Irish children in the care of religious congregations, reported the archbishop of Dublin, Ireland.Speaking at a June 8 press conference, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the pope was saddened to hear "how the children had suffered from the very opposite of an expression of the love of God."Archbishop Martin and Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, president of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, met with Pope Benedict for 45 minutes to brief him on the findings of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which released its report May 20."The Holy Father listened very carefully, very attentively and very sympathetically to what we had to say" during the 45-minute private meeting at the Vatican, Cardinal Brady said during the press conference.The visit with the pope followed a series of meetings to discuss the report's findings h ...Read More
HOLY FATHER TO SPEND A PERIOD OF REST IN VALLE D'AOSTA
Vatican City, 6 June, 2009 - Benedict XVI will spend a period of rest from 13 to 29 July at the residence of Les Combes at Introd, in the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta.This is the third time the Pope has chosen to spend the first weeks of his summer break in Valle d'Aosta, having also been there in 2005 and 2006. Last year he went to Bressanone in the Italian alpine region of Alto Adige, and in 2007 to Lorenzago di Cadore in the Italian Dolomites.A communique released by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announces that at midday on Sunday 19 July the Holy Father will pray the Angelus at Piazza Ruggia in front of the parish church of Sts. Peter and Solutor at Romano Canavese in the diocese of Ivrea.On Sunday 26 July he will pray the Angelus at his residence in Les Combes.The Wednesday general audiences of 15, 22 and 29 July are suspended.Following his return from Valle d'Aosta, the Pope will go to the Pontifical Palace at Castelgandolfo. ...Read More
FORMATION OF PRIESTS IS A DELICATE MISSION
Vatican City, 6 June, 2009 - This morning the Pope received the rector, priests and seminarians of Rome's Pontifical French Seminary. The institution, having been run for 150 years by the Holy Ghost Fathers, is now to pass under the aegis of the Conference of Bishops of France.Having given thanks to God "for the work accomplished by this institution, founded in 1853, where some 5,000 seminarians have been prepared for their future vocations", the Holy Father highlighted how "the task of forming priests is a delicate mission. ... Future priests require many aptitudes: human maturity, spiritual qualities, apostolic zeal and intellectual rigour", he said."Those whose duty it is to discern and form [seminarians] must remember that the hope they place in others is, first and foremost, a duty they themselves must shoulder".Benedict XVI then went on to recall that the change of administration "coincides with the beginning of the Year for Priests", due to be inaugurated ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI granted the powers to dismiss priest
Pope Benedict XVI has granted the Congregation for Clergy new powers to dismiss from the priesthood and release from the obligation of celibacy priests who are living with women, who have abandoned their ministry for more than five years or who have engaged in seriously scandalous behavior.The new powers do not apply to cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by a priest; those cases continue to be subject to special rules and procedures overseen by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.The new faculties were announced by Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the clergy congregation, in an April 18 letter to the world's bishops. Catholic News Service obtained a copy of the letter in early June.Cardinal Hummes told CNS June 3 that the new, quicker administrative procedure for dismissing priests was prompted by "many situations where canon law did not seem adequate for meeting new problems."As an example, the cardinal said the 1983 Code of Canon L ...Read More
Dioceses on the mainland have welcomed new priests
Beijing,China, May 29, 2009 – Several dioceses on the mainland have welcomed new priests during this Month of Mary, especially on the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (May 24) and on the feast of Saint Matthias (May 14).According to information released to Agenzia Fides, Archbishop Joseph Li Shan ordained Deacon Wang Zhan Bo to the priesthood in the Archdiocesan Cathedral of Beijing, dedicated to the Holy Savior, on the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China and feast of Our Lady, Help of All Christians.On the feast of the Apostle Saint Matthias, thousands of faithful of the Diocese of Yu Ci (today, Jin Zhong), in the Province of Shan Xin, enthusiastically welcomed their new priest, Fr. Joseph Wang Yong Qing. The priestly ordination was also accompanied by the deaconate ordination of Sun Jian Xin and Dong Tian Jun. Some fifty priests from all over the country participated in the event. The new priest, Fr. Joseph Wang, concluded his studies in the Semina ...Read More
The Year for Priests will be inaugurated by Pope Benedict XVI on June 19th
Vatican City, May 29, 2009 - "The Year for Priests, announced by our beloved Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney, is drawing near. It will be inaugurated by the Holy Father on the 19th June, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests."This is the opening of the letter written by the Prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, addressed to the priests of the world, asking for their common effort "so that it may be a year amply celebrated in the whole world – in the Dioceses, parishes and in every local community – with the warm participation of our Catholic people who undoubtedly love their priests and want to see them happy, holy and joyous in their daily apostolic labors.”The Cardinal continues: “It must be a year that is both positive and forward looking in which the Church says to her priests above all, b ...Read More
Christian community in Pakistan condemned the dynamite attack
Lahore, Pakistan May 28, 2009 – The Christian community in Pakistan has issued a firm denunciation of the dynamite attack that took place in the city of Lahore. Today, May 27, in a violent explosion at the Central Police Station in the city, over 40 people lost their lives and 200 were wounded.Local police say the terrorist attack was carried out using a car bomb. The building in question is located in the commercial center of the city, which is full of offices and businesses. The explosion completely destroyed a building belonging to the police emergency services and seriously damaged others, including a police station, a Secret Service office, and the Supreme Court headquarters. Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and civil and political authorities across the nation, have all condemned the attack (just another in a series of attacks in Lahore) and said that “enemies of Pakistan who want to destabilize the country are coming here after their defeat in Swat.”P ...Read More
Archbishop Gomis: War is not over in Sri Lanka
India, May 21, 2009 - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared an end to the nation's civil war in mid-May, but the head of the Sri Lankan Catholic bishops' conference said the war will be over only when the island nation is able to overcome its ethnic divisions."The war is technically over. But we can celebrate the real end of war only when we are able to overcome our prejudices and live together as one people," Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy, conference president, told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from his home May 19."I was extremely happy to hear the president (Rajapaksa) say today that the word 'minority' will be removed from our dictionary," the bishop said.The government said it killed rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, ending an ethnic conflict that has claimed more than 80,000 lives. Prabhakaran, who founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the mid-1970s, led the group's campaign for autonomy for the predominan ...Read More
Day of Prayer for the Church in China
Vatican City, May 21, 2009 – May 24 is the second “Day of Prayer for the Church in China,” which was instituted by Pope Benedict XVI in his Letter to Chinese Catholics, signed May 27, 2007, Solemnity of Pentecost, with these words: “Dear Pastors and all the faithful, the date 24 May could in the future become an occasion for the Catholics of the whole world to be united in prayer with the Church which is in China. This day is dedicated to the liturgical memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai.”After the large participation and success of the celebration last year, and thanks as well to the great care and attention of Cardinal Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, the Chinese Catholic community in Italy is collaborating with the Archdiocese of Naples to celebrate the Day there. All Chinese people, Catholic and non-Catholic here in Italy are invited to the “Duomo” in Naples at 11am on May 24 to respond to ...Read More
Catholic Church in Sri Lanka request to protect minority rights
Colombo, Srilanka, May 21, 2009 – The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has made several petitions to the government in Colombo, following the national celebration of the end of the war, assuring that, at the dawn of this new era without violence the Church will do her part to build reconciliation and peace. Among the Church's requests are: to resolve the matter of the Tamil refugees with haste; protect minority rights for ethnic and religious groups; take measures for ensuring a “fair peace.”In a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo affirms that “the war would end only on the day that we grow in nationhood realizing that we are all one people in one country with equal rights.”The nation has realized in the years of conflict and suffering, that it is “a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural community. As such we are now left with the great task of nation-building forgetting our ethnic, political and religious differences,” the Archb ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI calls Sri Lanka to ensure security civilians
Pope Benedict XVI has called for the warring sides in Sri Lanka to ensure security for evacuating civilians and for aid groups to get them the food and medicine they urgently need.In his weekly Sunday blessing, Benedict said he was spiritually close to all Sri Lankans and was praying for peace and reconciliation in the island nation."There are thousands of children, women, old people for whom the war has taken years of their lives and hope," Benedict said.Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels admitted defeat on Sunday in their 25-year civil war with the government, promising to lay down their arms.Benedict said the aid groups should "leave no stone unturned" as they care for the thousands of civilians who fled the waning battles between the government and rebels.He said he was adding his voice to that of the UN Security Council, which last week demanded that civilians be allowed to leave the war zone. ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI : I come to encourage you
Amman, Jordon, May 11, 2009 - May Christ “give you his courage”: that was Benedict XVI’s wish and mandate to the 20 thousand Catholics who filled the International Stadium of Amman for mass this morning which gave the Pope the opportunity to underline “prophetic chrism” of women, particularly in this region.It is the only public mass to be celebrated by the Pope in this nation. Jordan – which conceded a holiday to Christians today – is in a certain way a oasis for the regions Christians, who count a little over 100 thousand, 2% of the entire population, but who are free to profess their faith, build churches and schools and now even universities. All around the situation is completely different: from tight control in Syria to violence in Iraq. And there are 70 thousand Christians among the 700,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan. They too were present at the mass, calling out loud in greeting to their Pope. Among the 200 children receiving their first Holy Communion today were 4 ...Read More
To believe in God is to uphold the dignity of every person
Amman, Jordan, May 11, 2009 - To believe in God is to pray, to be merciful and compassionate, to witness to the truth and to uphold the dignity of every person, Pope Benedict XVI said after visiting a monumental new mosque in Amman.Acknowledging that much of the history of Christian-Muslim relations has been marked by misunderstanding and tension, the pope said it is faith that calls members of both communities to respect each other and join together to promote the common good.The pope visited the King Hussein Mosque in Amman May 9, the second day of his eight-day trip to the Holy Land. It was his second visit as pope to a mosque; he made history in 2006 when he entered the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, and stood praying next to the imam.Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters in Amman, "It would not be precise to say the pope prayed in the mosque (today), but it would be right to say he paused in respectful meditation in a place wh ...Read More
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