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Pope celebrates his birthday with young Catholics involved in project to welcome migrants

December 18, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Pope celebrates his birthday with young Catholics involved in project to welcome migrants

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received Birthday Wishes and a celebratory cake on Thursday as he greeted members of the Italian “Azione Cattolica” movement thanking them for their commitment to welcome migrants. It was a special morning in the Vatican as a large group of children and young people who belong to the non-political lay organization sang “Happy Birthday” to the Pope as he received them for the annual Christmas audience on the day that marks his 79th birthday. In a festive atmosphere, the Pope commended them for their desire to live the Gospel to the full, and for their mission to involve family members, parishes and communities in an actively Christian life. He said that by participating actively in the…Continue Reading

UN “Experts” Complain U.S. Has Too Many Pro-Life Laws Protecting Babies From Abortion

December 17, 2015 breaking Comments Off on UN “Experts” Complain U.S. Has Too Many Pro-Life Laws Protecting Babies From Abortion

The UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice conducted a visit to the United States last week and denounced laws restricting and regulating abortion as discriminatory and interfering with “women’s reproductive rights”. The Group railed against state laws on abortion, designed to protect women’s safety and provide for an informed and non-coerced decision, calling the laws “severe barriers” to women’s rights asserting: “These take the form of unjustified medical procedures, such as compelling women to undergo ultrasounds or to endure groundless waiting periods, withholding of early pregnancy abortion medications, imposing burdensome conditions for the licensing of clinics, which have resulted in the closing of clinics across the country leaving women without geographical…Continue Reading

GENERAL AUDIENCE: On Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

December 16, 2015 breaking Comments Off on GENERAL AUDIENCE: On Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

Below is a ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ address during this morning’s weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square: * * * THE HOLY FATHER’S CATECHESIS Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Last Sunday, the Holy Door was opened in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Cathedral of Rome, and a Door of Mercy was opened in the Cathedral of every diocese of the world, as well as in shrines and churches indicated by bishops. The Jubilee is in the whole world, not only in Rome. I wanted this sign of the Holy Door to be present in every particular Church, so that the Jubilee of Mercy could become a shared experience by every person. Thus the Holy Year got…Continue Reading

Pope approves decrees for 17 on path to sainthood

December 15, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Pope approves decrees for 17 on path to sainthood

(Vatican Radio) On Monday, 14 December 2015, Pope Francis received Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in a private audience. In the course of the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate decrees regarding: The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad, Founder of the Order of the Most Holy Saviour of Saint Bridget; born a Flågavik, Sweden on 4 June 1870, died at Rome 24 April 1957. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God Ladislao Bukowiński, diocesan Priest; nato a Berdyczów, Ukraine, on 22 December 1904, died in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 3 December 1974. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable…Continue Reading

Pope Francis: “hope in God’s mercy gives us freedom”

December 15, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Pope Francis: “hope in God’s mercy gives us freedom”

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says that it is hope in God’s mercy that opens up horizons and gives us freedom. The Pope was speaking on Monday during the homily at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. Reflecting on the first reading of the day from the Book of Numbers which tells of Balaam, a prophet hired by a king to curse Israel, Pope Francis said “Balaam had his faults, and he had sins as well, because we all have sins. We are all sinners”. But reassuring the faithful and telling them not to panic, the Pope said: “God is greater than our sins”. At a certain point – he continued – Balaam meets the angel of the Lord and has…Continue Reading

Planned Parenthood sends aborted babies’ bodies to landfills, violating state law: Ohio AG

December 14, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Planned Parenthood sends aborted babies’ bodies to landfills, violating state law: Ohio AG

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 11, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Every Planned Parenthood office in Ohio violates state law by sending aborted babies to landfills and treating them like “common…trash,” the state attorney general announced today. After the Center for Medical Progress released a string of videos this summer, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine ordered an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood in his state illegally sold fetal tissue and body parts. Planned Parenthood has said only two states participate in what it calls “fetal tissue donation”: California and Washington state.

Council of Cardinals conclude Meeting No. 12

December 12, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Council of Cardinals conclude Meeting No. 12

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met with the Council of Cardinals from 10-12 December for their twelfth meeting. A statement from the Holy See Press Office said the Holy Father was present for every session. The Statement said during the first morning, the Council heard from Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, who gave them an in-depth look at this “important Congregation”, its activities, responsibilities, and its role in ecumenism. During this encounter, the Council noted the importance of the Address of the Holy Father on 17 October, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops. In this address, the Pope developed extensively the theme of “collegiality”, but also pointed…Continue Reading

The environmental(ist) degradation of St. Peter’s

December 11, 2015 breaking Comments Off on The environmental(ist) degradation of St. Peter’s

By Phil Lawler  Dec 09, 2015 Almost as soon as the Year of Mercy was formally opened, the concept of Divine Mercy was trivialized by a light show, with images of the environment displayed across the façade of St. Peter’s basilica. Pope Francis took pains, in Laudato Si’, to draw a connection between the faith of the Catholic Church and the public concern for environmental degradation. But there was no effort to integrate faith into this show; it was a purely secular display. (Sure, a few folks have tried to discover a hidden religious symbol. Was the dove a reference to the Holy Spirit? Was that the Lion of Judah? Relax. You’re straining yourself. It’s not there.) What the picture…Continue Reading

INTERVIEW: The Immaculate: She Is Mother of Mercy

December 10, 2015 breaking Comments Off on INTERVIEW: The Immaculate: She Is Mother of Mercy

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza Asks Our Lady for “Protection of the Holy Father,” for “a Great and Renewed Vocational Spring” and for “the Confirmation of Fatima, With the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart” Why do Catholics celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception? What does it mean and how is it related to Mercy? Why did Pope Francis choose the feast of the Immaculate Conception to begin the Jubilee? Is Mercy mere forgiveness or is it much more? ZENIT asked these and other questions to Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary. ZENIT: Your Eminence, the Extraordinary Jubilee Year, proclaimed by Pope Francis, begins with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Can you explain…Continue Reading

Pope Francis pays homage to the Virgin Mary at Piazza di Spagna

December 9, 2015 breaking Comments Off on Pope Francis pays homage to the Virgin Mary at Piazza di Spagna

(Vatican Radio) On Tuesday afternoon, Pope Francis visited Piazza di Spagna, as part of celebrations for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Piazza was packed with people who welcomed the Pope saying ‘Viva il Papa!’ Following over fifty years of tradition, in his official capacity as the Bishop of Rome, the Pope pays homage to the Virgin Mary by placing a bouquet at the base of the Column of the Immaculate Conception in the Piazza on 8th December each year. The column and statue were originally erected with the help of 220 firemen, which is why the floral tributes always include a garland of flowers placed in the Virgin Mary’s arms by a member of Rome’s fire department. The…Continue Reading