Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sep 15, 2014 / 08:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The annual “Day for the Sick” held by the Archdiocese of Colombo recently drew more than 5,000 Sri Lankan faithful to the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka for a service led the Cardinal Ranjith. The spiritual, inner healing service and blessing of the sick is a renewal of faith held in Ragama, a suburb of Colombo, and has been observed annually for 67 years. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo led the Aug. 31 service, accompanied by two of his auxiliary bishops, Emmanuel Fernando and Maxwell Silva, and hundreds of priests and religious. “There is no point in pleading to God if we are leading a life of duplicity,” Cardinal Ranjith advised those attending the healing service during his homily. He told the faithful that merely listening to homilies is useless without practicing their advice and living it out in a transformation of their lives, urging the people to “turn away from wicked and sinful ways.” Mindful of the challenges facing his people in the wake of tsunamis and an ethnically divisive civil war which ended only five years ago, Cardinal Ranjith stressed that “before anything else, we need to heal the wounds that afflict this land of ours, which is no longer a healthy nation." “The hearts of our people are wounded and plagued with various forms of diseases, where even race and religion do not spare demeaning the dignity of a person,” he lamented. “The tendency we have today is to rise above others in any way possible, using any means, even to the extent of putting down the other … so these wounds in our people only grow deeper and deeper and fester, and thus people become more and more discouraged.” In a pastoral letter last year, the Sri Lankan bishops urged reconciliation and nation building, urging the people to “learn to settle issues among ourselves through dialogue and in a spirit of magnanimity,” rather than inviting foreign organizations to become involved. The country is under pressure from international agencies to probe alleged atrocities and human rights violations during the civil war between Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives. The Church has been instrumental in carrying its mission of evangelization through its social teaching and interreligious dialogue, and has untiringly engaged in helping post-war reconciliation and nation building. The Colombo archdiocese's prayer day for the sick began in 1947, when Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I., had a vision of such a prayer service for those with pain and suffering, to give them spiritual solace and draw them close to God. In the years since, the service has drawn thousands who come in sickness and grief to petition, also for their loved ones, to receive graces and miracles of healing. The basilica at which it is held hold a special significance for Sri Lankans, having been constructed in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary for having protected the island during World War II. In May, 1940, Archbishop Masson had prayed that if the nation was spared the ravages of the war, he would build a basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Lanka. The British navy operated out of bases in Sri Lanka, but the island was itself spared any violence during the war. In 1947, Pius XII granted Archbishop Masson permission to build the basilica, and when the archbishop died later that year, the work was carried out by his successor, Cardinal Thomas Cooray. The Archdiocese of Colombo is currently in the midst of its Year of Mary, which will conclude in November, and is preparing for the Jan. 13-15 visit of Pope Francis, during which he is expected to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka. Read more

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sep 15, 2014 / 08:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The annual “Day for the Sick” held by the Archdiocese of Colombo recently drew more than 5,000 Sri Lankan faithful to the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka for a service led the Cardinal Ranjith. The spiritual, inner healing service and blessing of the sick is a renewal of faith held in Ragama, a suburb of Colombo, and has been observed annually for 67 years. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo led the Aug. 31 service, accompanied by two of his auxiliary bishops, Emmanuel Fernando and Maxwell Silva, and hundreds of priests and religious. “There is no point in pleading to God if we are leading a life of duplicity,” Cardinal Ranjith advised those attending the healing service during his homily. He told the faithful that merely listening to homilies is useless without practicing their advice and living it out in a transformation of their lives, urging the people to “turn away from wicked and sinful ways.” Mindful of the challenges facing his people in the wake of tsunamis and an ethnically divisive civil war which ended only five years ago, Cardinal Ranjith stressed that “before anything else, we need to heal the wounds that afflict this land of ours, which is no longer a healthy nation." “The hearts of our people are wounded and plagued with various forms of diseases, where even race and religion do not spare demeaning the dignity of a person,” he lamented. “The tendency we have today is to rise above others in any way possible, using any means, even to the extent of putting down the other … so these wounds in our people only grow deeper and deeper and fester, and thus people become more and more discouraged.” In a pastoral letter last year, the Sri Lankan bishops urged reconciliation and nation building, urging the people to “learn to settle issues among ourselves through dialogue and in a spirit of magnanimity,” rather than inviting foreign organizations to become involved. The country is under pressure from international agencies to probe alleged atrocities and human rights violations during the civil war between Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives. The Church has been instrumental in carrying its mission of evangelization through its social teaching and interreligious dialogue, and has untiringly engaged in helping post-war reconciliation and nation building. The Colombo archdiocese's prayer day for the sick began in 1947, when Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I., had a vision of such a prayer service for those with pain and suffering, to give them spiritual solace and draw them close to God. In the years since, the service has drawn thousands who come in sickness and grief to petition, also for their loved ones, to receive graces and miracles of healing. The basilica at which it is held hold a special significance for Sri Lankans, having been constructed in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary for having protected the island during World War II. In May, 1940, Archbishop Masson had prayed that if the nation was spared the ravages of the war, he would build a basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Lanka. The British navy operated out of bases in Sri Lanka, but the island was itself spared any violence during the war. In 1947, Pius XII granted Archbishop Masson permission to build the basilica, and when the archbishop died later that year, the work was carried out by his successor, Cardinal Thomas Cooray. The Archdiocese of Colombo is currently in the midst of its Year of Mary, which will conclude in November, and is preparing for the Jan. 13-15 visit of Pope Francis, during which he is expected to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka. Read more

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sep 15, 2014 / 08:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The annual “Day for the Sick” held by the Archdiocese of Colombo recently drew more than 5,000 Sri Lankan faithful to the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka for a service led the Cardinal Ranjith. The spiritual, inner healing service and blessing of the sick is a renewal of faith held in Ragama, a suburb of Colombo, and has been observed annually for 67 years. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo led the Aug. 31 service, accompanied by two of his auxiliary bishops, Emmanuel Fernando and Maxwell Silva, and hundreds of priests and religious. “There is no point in pleading to God if we are leading a life of duplicity,” Cardinal Ranjith advised those attending the healing service during his homily. He told the faithful that merely listening to homilies is useless without practicing their advice and living it out in a transformation of their lives, urging the people to “turn away from wicked and sinful ways.” Mindful of the challenges facing his people in the wake of tsunamis and an ethnically divisive civil war which ended only five years ago, Cardinal Ranjith stressed that “before anything else, we need to heal the wounds that afflict this land of ours, which is no longer a healthy nation." “The hearts of our people are wounded and plagued with various forms of diseases, where even race and religion do not spare demeaning the dignity of a person,” he lamented. “The tendency we have today is to rise above others in any way possible, using any means, even to the extent of putting down the other … so these wounds in our people only grow deeper and deeper and fester, and thus people become more and more discouraged.” In a pastoral letter last year, the Sri Lankan bishops urged reconciliation and nation building, urging the people to “learn to settle issues among ourselves through dialogue and in a spirit of magnanimity,” rather than inviting foreign organizations to become involved. The country is under pressure from international agencies to probe alleged atrocities and human rights violations during the civil war between Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives. The Church has been instrumental in carrying its mission of evangelization through its social teaching and interreligious dialogue, and has untiringly engaged in helping post-war reconciliation and nation building. The Colombo archdiocese's prayer day for the sick began in 1947, when Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I., had a vision of such a prayer service for those with pain and suffering, to give them spiritual solace and draw them close to God. In the years since, the service has drawn thousands who come in sickness and grief to petition, also for their loved ones, to receive graces and miracles of healing. The basilica at which it is held hold a special significance for Sri Lankans, having been constructed in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary for having protected the island during World War II. In May, 1940, Archbishop Masson had prayed that if the nation was spared the ravages of the war, he would build a basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Lanka. The British navy operated out of bases in Sri Lanka, but the island was itself spared any violence during the war. In 1947, Pius XII granted Archbishop Masson permission to build the basilica, and when the archbishop died later that year, the work was carried out by his successor, Cardinal Thomas Cooray. The Archdiocese of Colombo is currently in the midst of its Year of Mary, which will conclude in November, and is preparing for the Jan. 13-15 visit of Pope Francis, during which he is expected to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka. Read more

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sep 15, 2014 / 08:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The annual “Day for the Sick” held by the Archdiocese of Colombo recently drew more than 5,000 Sri Lankan faithful to the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka for a service led the Cardinal Ranjith. The spiritual, inner healing service and blessing of the sick is a renewal of faith held in Ragama, a suburb of Colombo, and has been observed annually for 67 years. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo led the Aug. 31 service, accompanied by two of his auxiliary bishops, Emmanuel Fernando and Maxwell Silva, and hundreds of priests and religious. “There is no point in pleading to God if we are leading a life of duplicity,” Cardinal Ranjith advised those attending the healing service during his homily. He told the faithful that merely listening to homilies is useless without practicing their advice and living it out in a transformation of their lives, urging the people to “turn away from wicked and sinful ways.” Mindful of the challenges facing his people in the wake of tsunamis and an ethnically divisive civil war which ended only five years ago, Cardinal Ranjith stressed that “before anything else, we need to heal the wounds that afflict this land of ours, which is no longer a healthy nation." “The hearts of our people are wounded and plagued with various forms of diseases, where even race and religion do not spare demeaning the dignity of a person,” he lamented. “The tendency we have today is to rise above others in any way possible, using any means, even to the extent of putting down the other … so these wounds in our people only grow deeper and deeper and fester, and thus people become more and more discouraged.” In a pastoral letter last year, the Sri Lankan bishops urged reconciliation and nation building, urging the people to “learn to settle issues among ourselves through dialogue and in a spirit of magnanimity,” rather than inviting foreign organizations to become involved. The country is under pressure from international agencies to probe alleged atrocities and human rights violations during the civil war between Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives. The Church has been instrumental in carrying its mission of evangelization through its social teaching and interreligious dialogue, and has untiringly engaged in helping post-war reconciliation and nation building. The Colombo archdiocese's prayer day for the sick began in 1947, when Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I., had a vision of such a prayer service for those with pain and suffering, to give them spiritual solace and draw them close to God. In the years since, the service has drawn thousands who come in sickness and grief to petition, also for their loved ones, to receive graces and miracles of healing. The basilica at which it is held hold a special significance for Sri Lankans, having been constructed in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin Mary for having protected the island during World War II. In May, 1940, Archbishop Masson had prayed that if the nation was spared the ravages of the war, he would build a basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Lanka. The British navy operated out of bases in Sri Lanka, but the island was itself spared any violence during the war. In 1947, Pius XII granted Archbishop Masson permission to build the basilica, and when the archbishop died later that year, the work was carried out by his successor, Cardinal Thomas Cooray. The Archdiocese of Colombo is currently in the midst of its Year of Mary, which will conclude in November, and is preparing for the Jan. 13-15 visit of Pope Francis, during which he is expected to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka. Read more

Hanoi, Vietnam, Sep 15, 2014 / 02:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy See held a fifth round of talks with the Vietnamese government on Wednesday and Thursday to strengthen and develop their bilateral relations, which have been in disrepair for nearly 40 years. “The Holy See delegation emphasized that Pope Francis has followed with interest recent developments in Vietnam – Holy See relations, and encourages the Catholic community in Vietnam to continue to contribte to the country’s major goals,” stated a communique issued after the Sept. 10-11 Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group. The working group was established in 2009, and met this week in Hanoi in a “sincere, candid and mutually respectful atmosphere.” It is co-chaired by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Vatican undersecretary for Relations with States, and Vietnamese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bui Thanh Son. By custom, the working group meets alternately in Vietnam and at the Vatican; its last meeting was held at the Vatican in June. During this fifth round of talks, the Holy See “reaffirmed that it attachs great importance to the development of relations with Vietnam in particular, and Asia in general, as evidenced by the recent and coming papal trips to the continent.” The Holy See acknowledged that the country “has facilitated working visits to Vietnam by the non-residential special envoy of the Holy See to Vietnam, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.” Archbishop Girelli has in fact been able to visit each of Vietnam's 26 dioceses since his appointment in 2011. “The Holy See delegation appreciates the support given by the competent authorities at all levels to the Catholic Church in Vietnam for the accomplishment of her mission,” and also “took note of the development in the religious policies of Vietnam, reflected in 2013 Amended Constitution,” the joint communiqué also noted. The new Vietnamese constitution was approved in November 2013, and came into effect from January 1, 2014. The constitution preserves the communist party's dominant role, and keeps religious freedom under state control, though it also includes clauses that protect the right to practice or not to practice religion. The joint communiqué reads that the Holy See, “together with the Catholic Church in the country, wishes to make more active contributions to the country’s development where the Catholic Church has strengths, for example health care, education, charity, and humanitarian works.” And the Vietnamese “reiterated the consistent policy of the state and party in respecting freedom of religion and belief of all people and supporting the Catholic Church in Vietnam to actively participate in national social economic development.” The communiqué stressed that both the sides are encouraged by the positive developments in Vietnam-Holy See relations, which have been shown “by increased exchanges and contacts at all levels.” With 6 million adherents to the faith – nearly seven percent of its entire population – the Church has a notable impact on Vietnamese society, a fact acknowledged by the government's desire to dialogue with the Holy See. Diplomatic relations between the two states were dissolved in 1975, when the communist north overran South Vietnam. But since then, the visits of more than 20 Vatican delegations led to the 2007 visit of prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Benedict XVI. After the 2007 meeting, the Holy See and Vietnam began talks to re-establish diplomatic ties, and for this purpose the joint working group was established in 2009. In 2008, after decades, the Holy See was finally able to appoint seven new bishops in Vietnam, and the bishops ordained hundreds of priests.   The talks led to the appointment of Archbishop Girelli as non-resident special envoy to Vietnam in 2011. The following year, Nguyen Phu Trong, secretary of the Vietnamese   communist party, visited Benedict, thus showing that Vietnamese authority really wish to normalize diplomatic relations. Further improvements on the diplomatic side are expected for the sixth meeting of the working group, which should take place in the Vatican.   Read more

Sydney, Australia, Sep 15, 2014 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, in Australia's state of New South Wales, is rejoicing over having won multiple media honors from the country's Catholic and religious journalism associations. It's official monthly magazine, Aurora, was given the 2014 Gutenberg Award on Sept. 6. “Aurora attracted three awards at the Australasian Catholic Press Association dinner held last Thursday, followed by another four awards at the Australasian Religious Press Association lunch on Sunday,” Irene Sutherland, acting communications director of the Australian bishops' conference, told CNA Sept. 10. “The climax of the award ceremony was receiving the 2014 Gutenberg Award,”?she recounted. The Gutenberg Award "recognizes the outstanding contribution of an individual or organization in the field of Christian publishing, or the longstanding exceptional impact of a Christian publication,” and is the premier prize bestowed by the Australasian Religious Press Association. Bishop William Wright of Maitland-Newcastle congratulated Aurora's team and subscribers, saying, “the awards were a testament to the hard work of all across the diocese who contribute to Aurora.”   “Aurora  is something we all value as an opportunity to share stories of the many good things that people are involved in around the diocese and other matters that are important to our community,” he added. Tracey Edstein, the publication's editor, noted that its mission is “to tell the stories of the people in our local community, offer a Catholic perspective, encourage reflection and invite all to participate in the local Church.” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne said that Aurora “sets a fine example of how other dioceses might reach out to communicate and build relationships with the secular community.” “They’ve been able to communicate the Church’s good news stories, as well as provide honest coverage of the difficult issues they’ve faced in regard to clerical child sexual abuse,” he said. "Since commencing distribution of Aurora through secular newspapers in 2011, the  Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has been able to reach a broader audience beyond our Catholic community.” In addition to being published online, Aurora is distributed in as an insert in six local, mainstream papers, including The Newcastle Herald and The Maitland Mercury. It has a circulation of 70,000. Peter Bentley, the Australasian Religious Press Association president, said Aurora had thereby connected “not only with its wider Catholic constituency, but also to connect with members of other denominations and the general public … at a time when the Catholic Church and this particular diocese, have faced substantial and ongoing scrutiny and inquiry.” “Under the direction of its editor, Tracey Edstein, the magazine has not stepped away from controversial and difficult matters, instead addressing them in a straight forward and open manner, especially with the help of its bishop. I believe this strategic move has also enabled the church to connect in a wider way.” He added that “the style and range of material is also of interest to that broad range of people who are looking for advice, comment, and reflection, and perhaps end up being surprised to find this in a religious publication. Aurora has in a way entered into a gentle conversation with people outside the church, encouraging them to consider again faith and the church today.” Other ARPA awards won by Aurora included a bronze prize for best theological article, silver for best faith reflection, and gold for best regional publication. From the Australasian Catholic Press Association, Aurora was awarded for best layout and design, best print magazine, and overall excellence in a Catholic publication. The ACPA citation acknowledged Aurora for its “readily accessible stories,” a “consistent and edifying story of faith and life entwined,” and the “authentic message that brings truth and honesty to a difficult history, and yet is still able to rejoice in the positives.” Read more