May

12

Vatican Address to U.N. on Religious Tolerance

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“Meet Others on the Plane of Reason and Mutual Respect”
Here is the address Mary Ann Glendon, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, delivered May 10 to the U.N. General Assembly panel on religion in contemporary society. Her intervention was entitled “Prospects for Cross-cultural and Interreligious Relations in Contemporary Society.”
* * *
This afternoon’s panelists […]

May

12

Three Doves in Fatima

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

In 1946, two friends found themselves in a delirious crowd while the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried in procession from Bombarral to Lisbon, in the midst of ovations such as a prince had never received. Carlos, a believer in his youth, exclaimed jubilantly like everyone, but his friend, Fernando, on the contrary, […]

May

12

Power of Salvific Suffering

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“Declaring the power of salvific suffering,
the Apostle Paul says:
‘In my flesh I complete what is
lacking in Christ’s afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.’ . . .
Thus to share in the sufferings of Christ
is to suffer for the kingdom of God.”
Pope John Paul II
Salvifici Doloris
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May

12

Thomas Merton, thoughts on solitude…

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“The solitary life is full of paradoxes, the solitary is at peace, but not as the world understands peace, happy but not in the worldly sense of a good time, going but unsure of the way, not knowing the way but arriving, arriving but likewise departing. The solitary possess all riches but of emptiness, embracing […]

May

12

The Prayer of Nothingness

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Plunging into the abyss that is God each day.
Every morning starting again as the journey were just beginning.
He looks at me and loves me.
I am moved to tears.Called into this solitude by the voice of silence.
This world is too big for me to understand by travelling around it.
It will pass far to quickly for me […]

May

12

Pope’s Address at Canonization of First Brazilian

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the canonization Mass of Blessed Antônio de Sant’Ana Galvão (1739-1822), the first Brazilian to be proclaimed a saint.
* * *
My Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals,
Archbishop Scherer of São Paulo,
Bishops of Brazil and Latin America,
Distinguished Authorities,
Sisters and Brothers in Christ!
I will […]

May

12

Pope Proclaims Brazilian Saint a Model

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Benedict XVI presented Brazilian Saint Antônio de Santa’Ana Galvão as an example for all to follow in a “hedonistic age.”
The Holy Father arrived via “popemobile” at today’s canonization Mass at the airfield of Campo de Marte Airport in São Paulo. Before arriving at the altar, he greeted some of the more than 1.2 million people […]

May

12

Benedict XVI Shows a Jubilant Style

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Benedict XVI’s tendency to set aside formality in order to warmly greet the faithful was apparent was his first hours in Brazil.
The Pontiff, known as the “Panzer Cardinal” when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, broke protocol more than once to see and bless the Brazilian faithful who anxiously […]

May

12

The leader of the Chaldean Church is calling for a stop to the persecution of Christians in Iraq.

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Asia News reported that Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly of Baghdad made strong accusations against Iraqi authorities and foreign troops.
After returning from a stay in the United States, the head of the Chaldean Church denounced the sins of politicians and armies against Christian people.
“Christians are killed [or] chased out of their homes before the very eyes […]

May

12

Feast Day of Our Lady of the Abandoned Ones

May 12, 2007 | 3 Comments

Today in Valencia, Spain, it is the feast day of Our Lady of the Abandoned Ones (Virgen de los Desamparados). In the 15th century, a confraternity was founded in Valencia to take care of abandoned children, under the invocation of Our Lady of the Abandoned Ones. The institute was established but lacked a statue to […]

May

12

Saint of the Day - Saint Nerus, Saint Achilleus and Saint Pancras

May 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers who died around 304. They were probably Praetorian guards under Emperor Trajan. We know little else about them. But what we do know comes from two popes who lived in the fourth century, Pope Siricius and Pope Damasus. In 398, Pope Siricius built a church in their honor in […]