Rome, Italy, Aug 28, 2013 / 12:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A 44-year-old woman from Argentina said that after writing a letter to Pope Francis telling him that she had been raped by a local police officer, the Pope called her to tell her, “You are not alone.” “The Pope told me he receives thousands of letters each day, but that what I wrote moved him and touched his heart,” the woman said in an interview with the National University of Cordoba’s Canal 10 TV … [Read more...]
Iran rejects appeal from imprisoned US pastor
August 28, 2013 By
Washington D.C., Aug 28, 2013 / 04:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Calls for U.S. action continue after an Iranian court rejected an appeal from Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen imprisoned in Iran for his religious work in the country. “The news out of Iran is devastating to our family,” said Naghmeh Abedini, wife of the pastor, in an Aug. 26 statement. “From past cases, we know that the decision to release my husband lies solely at the mercy of the Supreme … [Read more...]
Bishop highlights link between religious liberty, natural law
August 28, 2013 By
Arlington, Va., Aug 28, 2013 / 12:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wis., implored Catholics to speak up for religious freedom and for truth after explaining the link between the two at a lecture in Arlington, Va., on Aug. 23. “Freedom of religion is the most basic of all the human rights, because the other human rights are limited to matters of time,” he said in a talk at the Institute of Catholic Culture. “Freedom of religion relates to my … [Read more...]
Joseph Bottum claims fidelity to Church stance on marriage
August 27, 2013 By
Hot Springs, S.D., Aug 27, 2013 / 05:48 pm (CNA).- Author Joseph Bottum says that while parts of his controversial article on Catholic responses to “gay marriage” may have been unclear, he did not intend to suggest a divergence from Church teaching. “I'm not dissenting from Church doctrine here, in any way,” said Bottum, who wrote the essay “The Things We Share” in Commonweal last Friday. Rather, he told CNA Aug. 26, “I am taking exception to … [Read more...]
Forty-five WYD participants seek refugee status in Brazil
August 27, 2013 By
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 27, 2013 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Citing religious oppression in their home countries, 45 young people who took part in World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have asked the country for refugee status. The young pilgrims from Pakistan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo said that they suffer “persecution” and “threats” in their countries for professing the Catholic faith. The pilgrims had joined more than three … [Read more...]
Military involvement in Syria could spark world war, bishop warns
August 27, 2013 By
Aleppo, Syria, Aug 27, 2013 / 01:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishop of Aleppo, Syria, has cautioned that foreign military action in the country could spark a global war, making the “tragic situation” much worse. “The only road to peace is dialogue,” said Bishop Antoine Audo on Aug. 27. “War will not take us anywhere.” “People live in anguish, not knowing what awaits them, and this has been happening during the two years of conflict,” he told … [Read more...]
Notre Dame to welcome, help fund undocumented students
August 27, 2013 By
South Bend, Ind., Aug 27, 2013 / 11:04 am (CNA).- Citing the U.S. bishops’ support for immigration reform, the University of Notre Dame has announced that it will now accept qualified undocumented students who apply for undergraduate admission. “In many ways, Notre Dame is itself a university of immigrants,” university spokesman Dennis Brown told CNA Aug. 26. “While the legal circumstances are certainly different, we have a long and proud history of educating the … [Read more...]
Benedict XVI’s personal secretary debunks ‘mystical experience’
August 27, 2013 By
Vatican City, Aug 27, 2013 / 08:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The retired pontiff's personal secretary said that the recent and widely circulated news story claiming that Benedict XVI stepped down after having a “mystical experience” is false. “It was invented from the alpha to the omega,”Archbishop Georg Gänswein said Aug. 25. “There is nothing true in this article,” he added in an interview with journalist Alessandra Buzzetti on Italian television … [Read more...]
Thai bishops stress Catholic identity, top academics in schools
August 27, 2013 By
Pattaya, Thailand, Aug 27, 2013 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Bishops Conference of Thailand is calling for renewed effort to boost Catholic education in the country, striving to reach international standards while fostering faith education. A three-day seminar organized by the Commission of the Catholic Education Council of Thailand was held recently in Pattaya to discuss standards for Catholic schools in evangelizing and educating. “This annual meeting of all Catholic … [Read more...]
New York City talks to share Catholic perspectives on art, beauty
August 27, 2013 By
New York City, N.Y., Aug 27, 2013 / 02:02 am (CNA).- A series of talks on art and beauty aims to bring a Catholic understanding of the arts into the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village. The Catholic Center at New York University is hosting the Saturday lecture series “The Art of the Beautiful” with the aim of exploring the “nature and purpose” of art and beauty and “their place in the social order.” It aims to reach professional artists in all … [Read more...]
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