The Church Can Help Build a Better Europe
The campaign for the European elections opens on May 12. The elections will take place from May 22 to 25 in the 28 member states of the European Union (May 25 in France). More than 500 million Europeans will choose their 751 representatives (74 for France) in the European Parliament for the next five years. This election poses a heavy challenge as regards the common good of Europe, both from the ethical and economic point of view. But the complexity of the European system, its apparent remoteness from citizens’ concerns, not to mention the evils that are rightly or wrongly attributed to European institutions, allow us to anticipate a new record of abstentions. Catholics are often the first to criticize ...

Animated video “Saint John Paul II: the life of a holy Pope”
In honor of the canonization of St. John Paul II, audiovisual resource page Catholic Link has created an animated video detailing the profound spiritual life of the saint with the hope of reaching youth. “With the video we try to tell people and share his life, but in a way that really emphasizes this central point…what the core, the nucleus of all of this was his relationship with Christ,” Garrett Johnson told CNA in a May 13 interview. Johnson is the administrator for the English page of Catholic Link, which also has editions in Spanish and Italian, and has been living in Rome for the past two years studying philosophy. Entitled “Saint John Paul II: the life of a holy Pope,” the video ...

Pope Francis: discourse to diplomats
Pope Francis received letters of credence from a group of ambassadors to the Holy See on Thursday morning. The ambassadors hail from Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Liberia, South Africa, Sudan, and Switzerland. In remarks prepared for the occasion and delivered to the ambassadors in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Thursday morning, Pope Francis spoke of diplomacy as a service in the cause of peace. “Peace,” said Pope Francis. “This word sums up all the goods to which every person and all human societies aspire.” The Holy Father went on to say, “Even the commitment with which we seek to promote diplomatic relations has, in the final analysis, no other purpose than this: to build peace in the human ...

Adoration and prayers in all churches for the kidnapped girls
The Church of Nigeria is following with special attention and participation the case of the nearly 300 girls kidnapped by a terrorist group in Nigeria. “In the last two Sundays, at the end of every Mass, we prayed so that the girls can embrace their families soon”, says Fr. Patrick Tor Alumuku, Director of Communications of the Archdiocese of Abuja. “On Sunday, May 11, in every parish and every church in Nigeria an hour of adoration to pray for the release of the girls was held – continues Fr. Patrick – while Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja, has multiplied the appeals in their favor”. Several States have offered their assistance to the Nigerian authorities to free the students ...

Harvard’s Black Mass Canceled or Relocated: Holy Hour and Eucharistic Procession Draw Thousands
Catholics in Boston and across the United States expressed disappointment and disgust at Harvard’s plans to host a black mass on Monday. Faced with the widespread response, the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club decided to change the venue for the event. It is not clear if in the end, the black mass happened at all. The Boston Globe reported: “Lucien Greaves, a temple spokesman, said in an e-mail at 10:35 p.m. that the mass was ‘happening now’ at the Hong Kong [Lounge]. He did not say how many people were participating or provide specifics on what was happening.” The Globe said a Lounge employee reported that Satanic temple members were “drinking at the bar, but he did not believe they ...

Boston Archdiocese condemns ‘black mass’ at Harvard
The Archdiocese of Boston announced opposition, May 7, to a planned so- called “black mass” scheduled to be reenacted on campus at Harvard University. “The Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Boston expresses its deep sadness and strong opposition to the plan to stage a ‘black mass’ on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge,” the archdiocese said in a statement. The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club will host the reenactment to be held May 12 at Queens Head Pub in Memorial Hall, on campus. The Satanic Temple, a group known for promoting controversy such as pushing to have a Satan statue built outside the Oklahoma Capitol, will perform what it called a reenactment — said to be an inverted ...

The Church should bestow the grace of God not bureaucratic obstacles
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says those in the Church who are called to administer the sacraments must leave room for the grace of God and not place bureaucratic obstacles in the way. This was one of the key points stressed by the Pope in his homily on Thursday at the Santa Marta residence. Pope Francis reflected on the three elements necessary for an effective evangelization, saying it requires docility, dialogue with people and trusting in the grace of God which is more important than bureaucracy. For the first element, he pointed to Philip the apostle as an example of docility. “He, Philip, he obeys, he’s docile and accepts the calling from the Lord. Certainly he left behind many things that ...

U2’s Bono Opens Up About Jesus, God And Praying With His Kids
Bono, frontman for the Irish band U2, investor, and philanthropist, said he believes Jesus Christ was divine, that he arose from the dead, and that he made promises to the world that will come true. Bono, who has an estimated worth of $600 million, also said he prays “to Christ” in order “to know the will of God,” adding that he and his family pray together and sometimes go to church to pray for others who are suffering. “I pray to get to know the will of God, because then the prayers have more chance of coming true — I mean, that’s the thing about prayer,” said Bono in an interview with Ireland’s RTE One last year. “We don’t do it in a ...