VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican newspaper said the musical compositions of the Beatles were far more creative than the “standardized and stereotyped” pop music of today. The Beatles’ songs have demonstrated “remarkable staying power, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians,” it said. The newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christian martyrdom is the fullest expression of human freedom and reflects the supreme act of love, said a top Vatican official at a Mass beatifying 188 Japanese martyrs. “It is not the punishment or the torture that creates a martyr,” but rather the fact the person suffered and died for Christ, […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Being saved by faith in Christ alone and not by works does not mean that people can do whatever they want as long as they recognize Christ as their savior, Pope Benedict XVI said. Faith in Christ “necessarily means conforming oneself to Christ” and being like him, especially in loving and […]
Continue readingNAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) — The Catholic Church will resist any moves to legalize abortion in Kenya, said Cardinal John Njue of Nairobi. Cardinal Njue, president of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, led hundreds of Catholics into the streets to demonstrate against the Reproductive Health and Rights Bill 2008, which would legalize abortion. He said the bill […]
Continue readingBALTIMORE (CNS) — The historic significance of the election of President-elect Barack Obama dominated the Nov. 10 opening address of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore. “Symbolically, this is a moment that touches more than our history when a country that once enshrined race slavery in its very constitutional legal […]
Continue readingBALTIMORE (CNS) — Domestic and international charitable organizations have found encouragement and helpful guidance in Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), said the heads of Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services at a Nov. 9 workshop for bishops in Baltimore. One of the themes of the nearly 3-year-old encyclical […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Two Italian nuns, both in their 60s, were kidnapped Nov. 10 in northeastern Kenya near the border with Somalia, the Vatican newspaper reported. L’Osservatore Romano identified the nuns as Sister Caterina Giraudo, 67, and Sister Maria Teresa Oliviero, 61, both from Cuneo, Italy, where their religious order, the Contemplative Missionary Movement […]
Continue readingALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CNS) — How does a Catholic men’s society founded in the Middle Ages and dedicated to the name of Jesus shake off a negative image that it’s outdated? Southwest chapters of the Holy Name Society, which originated in the 1200s, are working to find out. “The Holy Name Society is something of the […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — On the eve of the first meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum, the cardinal responsible for the dialogue said he hoped it would open “a new chapter” in a long history of Catholic-Muslim relations. French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, gave interviews in early November to […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — The death of a loved one brings pain and sadness, but Christians believe their loved ones will have eternal life in Jesus Christ and that they will be united again with them in heaven, Pope Benedict XVI said. Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 3 in memory of the 10 […]
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