Pope Francis announced his list of fifteen new cardinals-to-be Sunday, concentrating on developing nations, some of whom have never had a cardinal before. They will be made cardinals at Saint Peter’s Basilica on February 14. The Pope’s picks for the
The year 2014 saw more global persecution of Christians than any other year in recent history, and can only be compared to the first centuries when Christians were hunted down as criminals in the Roman Empire. The policy of the Emperor Diocletian, in fact, who reigned from 284-305AD, was remarkably similar to that taken by the Islamic State and Boko Haram: “Convert or die.”
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) set their eyes on another historical site to demolish as they continue to establish their The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) set their eyes on another historical site to demolish as they continue to establish their caliphate across Iraq. Residents near Mosul told Assyrian website Ankawa the militants’ plan to blow up the walls of Nineveh, which date back to almost 700 B.C.
In his New Year’s Day greeting to the tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Thursday, Pope Francis called for 2015 to be a “year of peace” and expressed his hope that “there may never again be wars. No more wars!” he said.
Mrio Cuomo is being remembered for many things, both good and bad, but the one that sticks most firmly in the minds of many Catholics is his famous articulation of a Catholic politician’s ability to be “personally opposed” to certain unjust activities without having to impose his views on others.
Disney Channel star Selena Gomez provoked outrage with some recent pictures she took on her visit to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
A recent Washington Times piece suggests that President Obama has found a convenient ally in Pope Francis because of the latter’s interest in climate change and his “soft” economics, which seems to converge with points of the democratic platform. At the same time, The Hill reports that Francis is driving a wedge between the Catholic Church and the GOP.
Since his election as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has encouraged lively debate in the Church, emphasizing freedom of expression over uniformity, especially on questions of policy rather than doctrine.
In Papua New Guinea, four women have been accused by other villagers of practicing black magic and may face an excruciating death, along with their thirteen children and grandchildren.
A substantial majority of Americans believe in life after death, according to a new study by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.
In his message for the World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis has condemned the attitude hiding behind the “quality of life” slogan, insisting that every life has quality and is worth living.
The first female bishop of the Episcopalian Church and the second in command of the denomination in Maryland has been named by her diocese as the driver of a car that mowed down a father and beloved Baltimore bicycle maker two days after Christmas.
Roberts’s new message of “positive faith,” in which religion could help with personal needs—from addictions to job searches—took him to a larger congregation in Tulsa and eventually around the world and on television.
Though the Chinese Communist Party is the largest explicitly atheist organization in the world, with 85 million official members, it is now overshadowed by an estimated 100 million Christians in China. It is no wonder Beijing is nervous and authorities are cracking down on Christian groups.
“The presence of large families is a hope for society,” Pope Francis said Sunday. “In a world often marked by selfishness, the big family is a school of solidarity and sharing, and these attitudes benefit the whole of society,” he said.
New reports on Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on ecology, slated for release in the spring of 2015, appear to be aimed at stoking fires of division between conservatives and liberals. Though contents of the letter have yet to be released, the Guardian predicts that the Pope’s letter on human and environmental ecology “will anger deniers and US churches.”
Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who fired two bullets at point blank range into Pope John Paul II’s body in May 1981, paid a visit to the Pope’s grave on Saturday, laying two bunches of white roses at the site. It was Ali Agca’s first visit to the Vatican since the assassination attempt.
Chinese police have arrested a Christian woman who, on Christmas Day, tried to hang signs near the Imperial Palace, on the gate of Zhongnanhai, the home of Chinese leaders. Her stated intent was “to bring the Gospel” to President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan.
On Christmas day a topless Femen protester stormed the nativity scene at St. Peter’s Square and stole a statue of the baby Jesus after the Pope’s Christmas address.
According to Joshua DuBois, a longtime spiritual adviser to Obama who led the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships during the president’s first term, the reason President Obama does not regularly attend church is that he worries that his presence detracts from other worshipers’ experience.
The Pope compared the witness of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, to the many Christians of today “who are discriminated against, persecuted and killed for their testimony to Christ.” There are “many, many” martyrs today, the Pope insisted. “I
Demonstrators participating in a Christmas Day “Black Lives Matter” protest in Oakland against police smashed store windows, injured a journalist, and vandalized the city’s main Christmas tree in Jack London Square in the latest violence associated with the movement.
A man on an American Airlines flight became upset and was taken off the plane after he chastised staff for saying “Merry Christmas.”
A Jewish congregation in California has made it a holiday tradition to bring Christmas to first responders who are working to serve and protect their community, and who cannot celebrate the holiday with their loved ones. For seven years, Temple Beth
In his annual Christmas message Thursday, Pope Francis drew inspiration from the Baby Jesus hunted by King Herod to speak of abused and massacred children, starting with those killed by abortion.
