CAIRO (CNS) – In an unprecedented and highly symbolic move, Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour paid a Christmas visit to the leader of the country’s Coptic Orthodox, Egyptian Pope Tawadros II. Previous presidents have extended Christmas greetings through presidential envoys or by phone. Mansour’s visit to Pope Tawadros’ papal seat in St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox […]
Author: settinger
Pope: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Get Involved
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – This new year will be brighter only if everyone steps outside their safe havens, gets involved and works together to solve local problems, Pope Francis said. May Mary “teach us to welcome God made man so that every year, every month, every day be overflowing with his eternal love,” he said […]
Over Six Million Vatican Visitors in 2013
by Francis X. Rocca’ In the first nine and a half months of Pope Francis’ pontificate, more than 6.6 million people participated in papal events at the Vatican, including weekly general audiences, group audiences, liturgies and recitations of the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” on Sundays and holy days. The statistics, compiled by the Prefecture of […]
Transitioning To Stability – Nonprofit Helps Homeless Rebuild Resumes and Lives
by Ambria Hammel PHOENIX (CNS) – The new year will be a brighter beginning for Terrance Alston. The 49-year-old, who spent enough years on the streets, is now fixing up his own home and mending family bonds. He attended his first big family dinner in 20-something years over Christmas, just days after moving from Phoenix […]
Pope Helps to Pay Off Youth Day Debt
RIO DE JANEIRO (CNS) – Pope Francis has pledged a donation of almost $5 million to help pay part of the debt incurred by the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day, said the Local Organizing Committee. A statement from the committee said the pope recognized “the great effort made by the Local […]
Church Groups Receive Relief from ObamaCare
by Tom Tracy WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CNS) – In the midst of their New Year’s Eve celebration with low-income elderly residents, the Baltimore-based Little Sisters of the Poor learned that the Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily protecting them from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. The order by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, issued within […]
Pope: Religious Need Dialogue with Bishops
by Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said he has ordered a revision of what he called outdated Vatican norms on the relations between religious orders and local bishops, in order to promote greater appreciation of the orders’ distinctive missions. The pope’s words were published Jan. 3 in the Italian Jesuit magazine […]
Restoring an Image
EverGreene’s chief conservator, Gillian Randell, cleans the face of the Heavenly Father in one of 13 historic murals on the ceilings and walls of St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral, Prospect Heights. Before restoration began the figures and rich decoration could hardly be deciphered. The restored murals are now a distinctive feature of St. Joseph’s, which is set […]
Change the World With Your Language
by Karen Osborne These days, you might ask your friends to “chill,” or post a “selfie” for Facebook. In the 1970s, you would have asked your friend “can you dig it?” or to “book it” from a boring party. Cool things in the 1920s were the “cat’s pajamas,” and people got the “heebie-jeebies” at Halloween. […]
Experience of Relating to God
by Father Robert Lauder Second in a series In last week’s column, I tried to convey the excitement and enthusiasm that was part of my experience in reading Jesuit Father Gerald Fagin’s excellent essay “Are We Relating to God in a New Way?,” which originally appeared in the Review for Religious, 1993, pp. 817-827. In […]