When the Islamic State group rolled across Iraq’s Ninevah Plain in 2014, tens of thousands of Christians fled for their lives to Kurdish-controlled areas of the country. They still wait in limbo in crowded camps, facing an undefined future. The only certainty they enjoy is knowing that whatever happens to them, a group of Dominican nuns will be at their side.
Moral and ethical concerns must guide medical research so it will always be at the service of protecting human life and dignity, Pope Francis said. In that way, education and research can strive “to serve higher values, such as solidarity, generosity, magnanimity, sharing of knowledge, respect for human life, and fraternal and selfless love,” he said April 29, during an audience with people taking part in a conference on adult stem-cell research.
“That in every country of the world, women may be honored and respected and that families, communities, and groups may pray the Holy Rosary for evangelization and peace.”
While religious freedom in much of the Middle East is under siege and the civil war in Syria seems to have no end in sight, the Knights of Columbus and others called the United Nations to action. Sister Maria de Guadalupe Rodrigo spoke of her missionary experiences in Syria.
Pope Francis will welcome several thousand homeless and vulnerable people from all over Europe when they make a pilgrimage to Rome in November.
Italian authorities arrested six suspects who allegedly received orders from the Islamic State terrorist group to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome.
Sharing and celebrating the joy of faith with thousands of Catholic teenagers from around the globe was a rare moment that not many people are able to experience, a U.S. teen said during an April 23 youth rally at Rome’s Olympic Stadium.
Four months after announcing it had hired the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct an external audit of its finances, the Vatican has suspended the work underway.
Pope Francis named Archbishop Juan Garcia Rodriguez, who has worked quietly to help rebuild the Cuban church, physically and spiritually, to be the new archbishop of Havana.
The retirement plan’s last statement showed it was supposed to disburse around $370,000 per month, but its monthly income was approximately $75,000, according to archdiocesan sources.
