Pope says he goes to Mexico as a ‘missionary of mercy, peace’
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said his reasons for going to Mexico are “easy and simple.” “I want to come as a missionary of mercy and peace,” the pope said in a video message to the Mexican people released …
Number joining the church at Easter increases for first time since 2013
This year 880 adults and children will enter the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, beginning Sunday Feb. 14 with the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion. For the first time since 2013, the number of those preparing to enter the church at Easter is …
Comboni Missionary becomes chaplain moderator for Hispanic community
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Hispanic community has a newly appointed chaplain moderator in the person of Father Rodolfo Coaquira Hilaje, a Peruvian Comboni Missionary. He was ordained in 1992 in his home country and spent 15 years in pastoral ministry to the people of Zambia, Africa. He also did missionary work …
Open God’s heart with prayer, pope tells Padre Pio Prayer Groups
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Praying is not like taking an aspirin, something one does just to feel a little better, Pope Francis told thousands of members of Padre Pio Prayer Groups from around the world. Prayer is not a business negotiation with God, either, …
Advisory-week ahead for Feb. 5, 2016
IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Although the number is not high, it is no longer “exceptional” to have priests turn down an appointment as bishop, said Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Speaking Feb. 1 about the annual course his office …
Italy: ‘Family Day’ rally draws hundreds of thousands
By Joseph McAleer ROME (CNS) — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome’s Circus Maximus to protest against a proposed bill that would grant legal recognition to nonmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples and give them the right to adopt children. Although not officially sponsored by the Catholic Church or …
Mission dioceses welcome the stranger, disenfranchised
IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth RALEIGH, N.C. (CNS) — When Aida Sarkisian and her family left their home in Iraq for the U.S., it wasn’t because they wanted to. It was because their survival depended on it. The refugees received death threats as far back as 2006 in …
Mercy, mission go together, pope says
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By David Agren VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mercy and mission have a close relationship that calls all Christians to be missionaries who share the joy of the Gospel without trying to force others to believe, Pope Francis said. The joy that comes from conveying God’s love and …
From gangs to God: In Ciudad Juarez, youth express hopes for papal visit
IMAGE: CNS photo/David Maung By David Agren CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNS) — Esteban Alanis, 23, once ran with a local gang known as “Los Parqueros,” which would accost people for their cash and cellphones in a working-class neighborhood of southeast Ciudad Juarez. He called the crimes “easy money,” while gang …
Cincinnati Mayor declares Feb. 5 Tom Otten Day
Though Feb. 5, 2016 passed in much of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as simply the final day of Catholic Schools Week, at Elder High School and throughout the City of Cincinnati, it was officially Tom Otten Day. Otten, the 19-year principal of Elder High School, is retiring at the end of …
