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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

Record number of converts at Arizona State University (The State Press)

Echoing reports from Harvard University and the University of Notre Dame, the Newman Center at Arizona State University is reporting a record number of conversions this school year.

Father Aaron Qureshi said that 15 or 20 students typically enter the Church there each year. Fifty-two students there entered the Church during the fall semester, with more expected to enter during the spring.

Vatican cardinal: Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine (OSV News)

The prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity said in an interview that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in winter are acts of genocide.

“I was in Kyiv during the winter several times,” said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski. “It is a nightmare when the city is left without power at this time of the year. It is a deadly risk for people.”

“The goal is to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure, particularly its energy sector, and freeze Ukrainians,” added Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “These are very obvious signs of crimes against humanity, against international law, against the rules and moral norms of warfare.”

Sri Lankan archdiocese organizes demonstration following police assault of priest (AsiaNews)

The Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, organized a silent demonstration of priests and religious following the assault of Father Milan Priyadarshana, for which six police officers have been arrested.

“We have gathered here to declare that the police have no right to inflict physical or mental violence on any citizen of our country,” said Father Jude Krishantha, spokesman for the archdiocese. “We call on the president and all those who handle the law to ensure that the police do not allow such physical and mental violence against any citizen, not just a religious leader.”

Recalling Nostra Aetate, Pope condemns anti-Semitism (@Pontifex)

In a social media post on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pope Leo XIV condemned anti-Semitism and offered readers a link to Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.

“On Holocaust Remembrance Day, I would like to recall that the Church remains faithful to the unwavering position of the Declaration Nostra Aetate against every form of antisemitism,” Pope Leo tweeted. “The Church rejects any discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion.”

New president appointed for Ratzinger Foundation (Zenit)

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, appointed Father Roberto Regoli as the new president of the Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. Father Regoli succeeds Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, whose term has concluded.

Father Regoli is a professor of Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University and editor of the journal Archivum Historiae Pontificiae (Archive of Pontifical History). Father Regoli is currently the president of the Foundation’s committee for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict’s birth, which will take place next year.

Father Lombardi, whom he succeeds, was director of the Holy See Press Office for most of Pope Benedict’s pontificate. The Foundation is best known for its annual Joseph Ratzinger Prize.

South Sudan cardinal calls on troops to disobey orders to kill civilians (Vatican News)

Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan’s capital, condemned a senior military leader’s call to “spare no one,” including “children, the elderly, and civilians,” in an offensive against rebel-held territory.

“Directing forces to ‘spare no lives’ is a direct call to genocide,” said Cardinal Ameyu. “We call on all the fighting forces not to heed any directive that risks victimizing innocent civilians and pitting communities against each other.”

Pope, in brief statement to media, urges prayers for peace (Vatican News)

In a brief statement to media following his weekly visit to Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV called for prayers for peace.

“I’ll only say that we must pray very much for peace,” Pope Leo told journalists last evening, when asked about the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

“We little ones can raise our voices and always seek dialogue and not violence to resolve these problems, especially on this day when we commemorate the Shoah,” the Pope added, referring to International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Cardinal Parolin recalls 1200th anniversary of St. Ansgar's evangelizing mission (Vatican News)

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, celebrated Mass in St. Ansgar’s Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, in commemoration of the 1200th anniversary of the beginning of the saint’s evangelizing mission in Denmark.

St. Ansgar, now remembered as the Apostle of the North, “faced enormous opposition and seemed to fail, but success was not what he sought,” Cardinal Parolin preached.

The saint’s life, the prelate said, shows that the Church grows “not primarily in numbers, but in men and women who live lives of faithfulness, perseverance, and love: the mission begins with transformed hearts.”

Cardinal Fernández, DDF prefect, warns against lack of intellectual humility (CWN)

The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith called for intellectual humility at the opening of the dicastery’s plenary session and linked the lack of such humility to the “excesses of the Inquisition, the world wars, the Shoah, and the massacres in Gaza.”

Catholic Priest Who Worked With Alex Pretti Says He Was Known for ‘Kindness’

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