Manchester, N.H., Feb 4, 2021 / 09:01 pm (CNA).- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has declined to consider an appeal by the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary located in New Hampshire against prohibitions placed on them by the Diocese… […]
Richmond, Va., Feb 4, 2021 / 08:11 pm (CNA).- The abolition of the death penalty has advanced in Virginia, with the State Senate’s passage of a bill backed by the Virginia Catholic Conference.
The death penalty repeal bill passed the Senat… […]
Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2021 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- With a pro-abortion administration and a pro-abortion majority in the House, the pro-life movement will be “tenacious,” a leading pro-life member of Congress says.
“We will be t… […]
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 4, 2021 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- The nominee for Secretary of Education on Wednesday said that high school athletes identifying as transgender should be allowed to compete in girls’ athletic events.
During … […]
CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2021 / 05:34 pm (CNA).- Following Pope Francis’ appeal to pray for the homeless deceased, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco is supporting a local initiative that has launched a “Year of the Homeless.”The Year for the Ho… […]
CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2021 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of the cities competing in the Super Bowl have placed a friendly wager on the game’s outcome.
Super Bowl LV will take place Feb. 7, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers squaring off against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bishop Gregory Parkes of St. Petersburg and Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph announced their wager on a Feb. 2 episode of “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan.”
If the Kansas City Chiefs win, Bishop Parkes will send hand-rolled Tampa cigars to Bishop Johnston, while if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are victorious, Bishop Johnston will send Kansas City barbecue to Bishop Parkes.
In addition to the wager between the bishops, two Catholic schools in the competing cities have taken the initiative to place a friendly bet on the game.
St. Paul Catholic School in St. Petersburg has a wager with St. Elizabeth Catholic School in Kansas City, Bishop Parkes said. The schools are holding a food drive— which they are calling “The Souper Bowl”— to collect soup cans to donate to local pantries, with the school collecting the most cans declared the winner.
In addition to the food drive, the schools also have a wager similar to the one between the two cities’ bishops. If Kansas City loses the football game, St. Paul’s school will send barbecue to St. Elizabeth’s. If Tampa Bay loses, St. Elizabeth’s will send Florida oranges and a treasure chest full of beads.
Bishop Johnston said the students took the initiative to start the wager between the schools.
“It was not something that came from on high, it came from the students themselves,” he said.
Wagers between local bishops of the teams playing the Super Bowl has become something of a tradition.
Kansas City won last year’s Super Bowl, earning Dungeness crabs for Bishop Johnston from Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.
In 2018, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston bet on the outcome of Super Bowl LII, played by the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots. At stake were $100 donations to Catholic Charities Boston or St. John’s Hospice in Philadelphia.
Bishops have also made public, friendly wagers on the outcomes of the NBA Championship and the World Series when their local teams have been at odds.
Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2021 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The White House on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to funding Planned Parenthood and supporting the Equality Act—a bill opposed by the U.S. bishops.
At Thursday’s press briefing, White H… […]
CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2021 / 02:12 pm (CNA).- A proposed ban on “conversion therapy” for sexual orientation or gender identity in Australia’s Victoria state is far too broad and could target normal prayer and conversations between children and parents, Cat… […]
Vatican City, Feb 4, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Human fraternity is “the challenge of our century,” Pope Francis said on Thursday, as he marked the first International Day of Human Fraternity together with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.
“Either we are brothers, or, allow me to say, everything will fall apart,” the pope said during an online event on Feb. 4. “This is the challenge of our century. It is the challenge of our times.”
Francis spoke about the importance of human fraternity during a 40-minute online meeting organized by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity in collaboration with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
“Fraternity means to lend a helping hand. Fraternity means respect. Fraternity means listening with an open heart. Fraternity means defending our own convictions because there is no true fraternity if one’s own convictions have to be negotiated,” the pope said.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated Feb. 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity. The date was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together. The text was signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar on the pope’s trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
“This celebration responds to a clear call that Pope Francis has been making to all humanity to build a present of peace in the encounter with the other,” Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot said before the event.
Ayuso, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said, “these meetings are a way to achieve true social friendship, as the Holy Father asks of us.”
Speaking after Ahmed el-Tayeb, Pope Francis emphasized that “either we are brothers or we destroy each other. There is no time for indifference now.”
“A world without brothers is a world of enemies,” he continued. “I would like to underline this. We can’t say ‘brothers or not brothers.’ We have to say ‘brothers or enemies’ because the difference is a very subtle form of enmity.”
“We do not need to be at war to be enemies. Disregarding each other is enough…” he said.
During the event, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Latifa Ibn Ziaten, a French-Moroccan activist, were given the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.
The two were chosen for the award by an independent jury established by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity.
Ibn Ziaten is a Muslim and the mother of Imad Ibn Ziaten, the first service member killed by Mohammed Merah during a series of Islamist terrorist attacks he committed in Toulouse and Montauban, France, in 2012.
After the death of her son, Ibn Ziaten created the Imad Ibn Ziaten Youth Association for Peace to support young people from poor areas and promote interreligious dialogue.
Pope Francis praised Ibn Ziaten’s strength and the “conviction embodied in pain, in your wounds.”
“Only a mother knows what it is to lose a child,” he said. “Through your pain, you bring yourself to say, ‘we are all brothers,’ and to sow seeds of love. Thank you for your testimony and thank you for being a mother to your son and to so many boys and girls. For being a mother of this humanity that is listening and learning from you the path of fraternity.”
The pope also addressed Guterres, thanking him for his efforts towards building peace. “We will only achieve peace with a fraternal heart. Thank you for what you are doing,” he said.
Guterres has been U.N. Secretary-General since 2017. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.
A Catholic, Guterres recorded a video message with Pope Francis in December 2019, in which the two leaders underlined the importance of religious freedom, human dignity, and environmental protection.
CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- A German cardinal facing calls to resign confirmed on Thursday that he would release an eagerly awaited report on abuse cases in his archdiocese next month.
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki told the Köl… […]
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