The papacy is “one of Christ’s great gifts to the Church”, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli told a packed cathedral crowd on April 22.The papacy has provided “outstanding leadership and has maintained the faith of the Apostles for the last two millennia”, he said at the Mass to celebrate the seventh anniversary of Pope Benedict [...]
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Catholics in British cities hosting events for the 2012 Olympic Games are being urged to show hospitality to athletes who cannot afford to stay in hotels.They are being encouraged to register with the Athlete Family Homestay Programme and open their homes for eight days or more to Olympic and Paralympic competitors and [...]
Fr Anthony Hutjes receiving gifts offered by CARE beneficiaries during the Dec 1 Mass.Catholics should show unconditional love to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), participants at the recent World AIDS Day Mass were told.“Whatever you do to the least of your brothers, you do unto me,” Fr Anthony Hutjes reminded the congregation of Jesus’ words [...]
A Japanese Catholic community member presents gifts at the offertory during the World Mission Sunday Mass. Beside Archbishop Chia is Fr Kenson Koh, chairman of the Archdiocesan Commission for Missionary Activity.“Through their baptism, all believers are called to take part in the new evangelisation: families, young people who are generally the most open to being [...]
Above: About 300 teachers attended the archdiocesan Teachers’ Day celebration on Aug 27. Below: Holy Trinity Kindergarten children entertain with Rhythm of the Earth, a song, dance and percussion performance.It is important for teachers to realise that they cannot continue to be good Catholic educators unless they have a “deep … spiritual life”.“If we don’t, [...]
Fr Joseph Chen Hailong of Xuanhua. Photo: UCANEWS.COMBEIJING – A young priest in China’s northern Hebei province was released to his hometown after more than three months in detention, Church sources said.Fr Joseph Chen Hailong of Xuanhua, who has served in Yanqin parish near Beijing since his 2009 ordination, had been detained since he was [...]
NEW ORLEANS, USA – For eight days at Loyola University New Orleans, three American priests and five deacons absorbed the cool mathematics and internal symmetry of good preaching.Just as Moses descended from Mount Sinai with Ten Commandments chiselled on two stone tablets, the rules laid out by Fr Roy Shelly and Ms Deborah Wilhelm of [...]
People fleeing unrest in Tunisia in March are checked by Italian police on the southern island of Lampedusa. CNS photoVATICAN CITY – Tunisia’s tiny Catholic community is praying for the country’s transition to democracy and hopes that the nation will embrace full religious freedom, said Archbishop Maroun Lahham of Tunis.“We are certainly for the separation [...]
Archbishop Nicholas Chia speaking to media professionals and other lay Catholics during a special Mass to mark World Communications Day.The Singapore archdiocese plans to set up an award to recognise media professionals whose work celebrates the human spirit and universally-recognised human values.Archdiocesan Director of Communications Joan O’Reilly Fix announced this at a Mass to mark [...]
Archbishop Nicholas Chia receiving the Book of the Elect from Fr Erbin Fernandez, archdiocesan Catechetical Office director, at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.More than 900 people are set to join the local Church at Easter.They have prepared themselves to receive the Sacraments of Initiation for a year or more after joining the [...]