Michael D. O’Brien has been working as an iconographer, painter, and writer for nearly fifty years. He is the popular author of over two dozen books, including several best-selling novels such as Father Elijah, Elijah in Jerusalem, The […]
Rome, Italy, Mar 12, 2017 / 12:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his brief homily at a Roman parish Sunday, Pope Francis reflected on the beautiful faces of Jesus during the Transfiguration and the Resurrection, saying they give us the hope and courage needed… […]
Vatican City, Mar 12, 2017 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said Lent is a time to really contemplate the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us on the Cross, which is more than just a devotional symbol, but an exhortation to imitate th… […]
Many of us thought we were going to be safe from papal off-the-cuff remarks last week since the Pope and Curia were on their annual Lenten retreat. No such luck as we got treated to […]
Washington D.C., Mar 11, 2017 / 04:02 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- Despite being victims of harassment and violence, Egypt’s Coptic Christians have set a standard of forgiveness that everyone should imitate, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in… […]
MPAA Rating: PG-13 USCCB Rating: AIII Reel Rating: (3 out of 5 reels) I first read The Shack soon after it reached its zenith of fame in 2009, on its way to 10 million copies […]
Readings: • Gen 12:1-4a • Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 • 2 Tim 1:8b-10 • Mt 17:1-9 “Life is short; death is certain,” wrote Blessed John Henry Newman, “and the world to come is everlasting.” […]
Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Mar 11, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A man acting as a guard outside a Catholic church in Bangladesh was injured in a knife attack on Friday. Local authorities attribute it to a private feud, and not terrorism.
According to local reports, Gilbert Costa, 65, was guarding Saint Rita parish in the Chatmohar upazila of the Pabna district, about 55 miles southeast of Rajshahi, when he was attacked in the early hours of March 10 by several young men from his village wielding knives.
“He was hacked randomly by sharp knives and was left severely injured. He was shifted to a hospital where his condition is now stable,” local police chief Ahsan Habib told AFP.
Officials have ruled out a link to Islamic terrorism, and have said that the attack was motivated by “personal enmity.”
“Costa and his relatives have identified the attackers with whom they had personal feud in the village. We have found no extremist connection whatsoever,” Habib told AFP.
Three young men from Costa’s village have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Christians have suffered numerous attacks in the country, where they make up approximately 0.2 percent of the population in the Muslim-majority nation.
While the country has a history of violence against Christians, violence has spiked in the wake of the rise of extreme Islamic terrorism. In November 2015, an Italian missionary priest working at a hospital in Bangladesh, was shot and critically injured an attack claimed by the Islamic State. In summer 2016, several attacks left dozens dead, including a Catholic man coming home from Sunday prayers in June and 28 people who died in a hostage situation in July.
Pope Francis recently met with families of the victims of the 2016 hostage scenario, most of whom were foreigners from Italy and Japan. During his visit with the families, he offered his prayers and encouraged forgiveness.
“It’s easy to take the road from love that leads to hatred, while it is difficult to do the opposite: from bitterness and hatred to go towards love,” he said.
Despite the persecution, the Catholic population in Bangladesh is reportedly on the rise. In 2015, Pope Francis established a new diocese in the south-central region of the country, due to an increase of Catholics in the region.
A couple of months ago I was savaged on my campus on account of a title supplied by one of my editors: “My College Succumbed to the Totalitarian Diversity Cult.” I don’t know that Providence […]
Guatemala City, Guatemala, Mar 10, 2017 / 03:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There is mourning in Guatemala after at least 35 girls perished in a fire at a state-run home for youth, which had attracted widespread charges of abusive conditions and mistreatment.
The Church “greatly mourns a tragedy of this kind,” Auxiliary Bishop Raúl Antonio Martínez Paredes of the Archdiocese of Guatemala told CNA.
The fire occurred March 8 at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home. A group of girls and teenagers rioted to protest what they alleged was physical and sexual abuse at the facilities. Authorities said that some of the children set fire to mattresses and the fire then spread to the rest of the facility.
Gloria Castro, attorney for the children, told Guatemala’s Congress that the girls who died in the fire were unable to get out because they were locked in a room, apparently as a punishment. The previous night, some 60 children escaped from the center.
The center, located in the San Antonio area of the town of San José Pinula, was created to provide protection for about 400 girls and teenagers abandoned and at risk. However, it currently houses close to 750 children, including those in trouble with the law.
Bishop Martinez Paredes said it might be possible to discover who is responsible for the incident, but he said it is most important to resolve the problems of the safe house.
“If it’s closed, what will be done with the young people who have rights and needs?” the bishop asked. “It’s almost certain that we Christians can offer some help.”
Noting the complaints that provoked the riot, the bishop voiced concern that no distinction was made between younger girls and teenagers, or between those who have committed crimes and those who have not. He said the facilities are “not appropriate” and are joined together.
The shelter “practically became a children’s prison, when the original idea was to be a home to help children at risk.” He called on authorities to fulfill their obligations to protect children and to build the proper infrastructure.
After the tragedy, the Attorney General’s Office for Human Rights reiterated that in November 2016 it recommended closing this center for failing to comply with the recommendations made in 2015, when the problems facing the children began to be known.
The Office of Human Rights for the Archdiocese of Guatemala also expressed “its deepest sorrow and solidarity” with the families of those who died and with those injured in the fire.
It said such an event is unacceptable and would have been avoided had the shelter improved the unfit conditions. The office urged that those responsible for the shelter’s condition be sanctioned, and child protection policies be adopted in line with national and international law.
Such centers must strengthen human persons and their rights, not become places of imprisonment and mistreatment, the human rights office said.
“We pray to the Lord Our God to give us and the affected families strength,” it said.
© Catholic World Report