Faith World News
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 01:23 pm (CNA).- The Supreme Court said Wednesday night that NY state restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic are a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise. After the ruling the Bishop of Brooklyn, whose diocese was a plaintiff in the suit, said that religious worship should be considered an essential during the coronavirus pandemic.“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Coronavirus lockdowns revealed a “glaring contradiction” in attitudes towards migrants, a Vatican diplomat said Thursday.Addressing the Council of the International Organization for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 26, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič said that migrants were both resented and relied upon as essential workers amid the pandemic. “It is regrettable that, while migrants’ labor is in high demand and welcomed to compensate for labor shortages, they also are often rejected and subjected to resentful, utilitarian attitudes by many in receiving societies,” he said. “This sad reality is a glaring contradiction that stems from placing[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 11:01 am (CNA).- The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to review a challenge to a California requirement that charitable organizations disclose their major donors to the state attorney general, siding with groups like the Thomas More Law Center that say the requirement will make their donors vulnerable to retaliation, harassment, and violence.The move from the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office drew praise from John Bursch, senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy at the Alliance Defending Freedom legal group.“Charitable entities shouldn’t be required to disclose confidential donor information to state officials who[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 10:35 am (CNA).- Cardinal Vincent Nichols urged the U.K. government Thursday to reconsider a proposed cut to its foreign aid budget. In a letter to MPs released Nov. 26, the president of the bishops’ conference of England and Wales expressed concern at the proposed cut in overseas aid from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%.“In today’s figures that amounts to a cut of around £4 billion [$5.3 billion] in spending on help to the world’s poorest people,” he wrote. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced Nov. 25 that the government intended to abandon its commitment to the 0.7%[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 10:01 am (CNA).- Following Pope Francis’ mention in passing of the Uyghurs as persecuted in a new book, the Chinese foreign ministry said the claim is groundless.“I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi -- what ISIS did to them was truly cruel -- or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church,” Pope Francis is quoted as saying in the book, “Let Us Dream,” according to the AP.An estimated 1 million Uyghurs, members of a Muslim ethnoreligious group, have been[…]
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Rome, Italy, Nov 26, 2020 / 08:40 am (CNA).- As the Church in Italy prepares to introduce its new translation of the Roman Missal on Sunday, the bishop in charge of its creation hopes the changes will help Catholics rediscover the beauty of the Mass.After Italy experienced the temporary suspension of public Masses due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, Bishop Claudio Maniago said “it has become more evident that the celebration of the Eucharist is truly the culmination and source of all the life and mission of the Christian communities, which are called to live and transmit the[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- A pro-life undergraduate student in a midwife program has received an apology and payout after she faced suspension. The Daily Telegraph reported Nov. 24 that Julia Rynkiewicz, a 25-year-old Catholic, had reached a settlement with the University of Nottingham in the U.K. She was blocked from entering her program’s hospital placement phase after the university learned of her leadership of a pro-life student group. She faced a four-month-long fitness-to-practice investigation in 2019.The university overturned its decision in January, but Rynkiewicz sought an apology.“The settlement demonstrates that the university’s treatment of me was wrong, and while[…]
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Rome Newsroom, Nov 26, 2020 / 05:30 am (CNA).- At an event in Saudi Arabia this week, a Vatican diplomat emphasized the importance of religious freedom and said that “authentic encounter” among religions can take place only in the context of the “pursuit of Truth.”Human dignity is the premise which allows dialogue among different cultures, but “the pursuit of Truth” is what permits “an authentic encounter between various religions confessions,” Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič said in Saudi Arabia Nov. 22.Jurkovič spoke at the presentation of a book entitled “The promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue as an instrument for peace and fraternity” in the city[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2020 / 04:35 am (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Belarus appealed Wednesday for a “peaceful solution” to the crisis that has gripped their country since a disputed presidential election in August.In a Nov. 25 message, issued in Belarusian and Russian, the bishops said that, after months of protests and crackdowns, the crisis was deepening. “Violence does not stop, blood continues to be shed, society is divided. This does not foretell us a happy future, for, as Christ said, a house divided against itself cannot stand,” the bishops said.They noted that Belarus -- a country of 9.5 million people[…]
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CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2020 / 04:40 pm (CNA).- Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at the age of 60. Maradona is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, and was recognized by FIFA as one of two Players of the Century. After Maradona’s death, one Argentine bishop has encouraged prayer for the athlete’s soul."We will pray for him, for his eternal rest, that the Lord offers him his embrace, a look of love and his mercy," Bishop Eduardo Garcia of San Justo told El1 Digital.Maradona’s story is “an example[…]
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Written by Catholic News Agency. Posted in Opinion
Denver, Colo. /(CNA) - This month, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.
Here’s what you need to know about the feast day:
The timing and origins of Pentecost
Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.
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Written by Shayne Moore. Posted in Opinion
WHEATON, Ill., April 2020/PRNewswire/ -- The Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) at Wheaton College and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) want churches to know they're not alone. Together, they presented the COVID-19 Church Online Summit, a two-day digital summit to help churches respond creatively, practically, and faithfully to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Summit is free at https://www.covid19churchsummit.com.
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