Religion
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Sunday, July 17, 2011
Quotes and news
Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo of Lisbon has taken a step back and reversed his original statement that there is no major theological obstacle to the ordination of women. He now says that this is not possible, while noting that after making his...
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Sunday, July 10, 2011 by
Fr René Camilleri
Care of the soul
Today’s readings: Isaiah 55, 10-11; Romans 8, 18-23; Matthew 13, 1-23 Anxiety, vanity, absurdity are different shades of our daily life that cannot be bypassed because they actually condition, at times to large extents, our way of living and...
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Sunday, July 10, 2011 by
Fr Joe Borg
Pontifical tweeting and embracing social media
“Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” This first ever pontifical tweet was made on June 28. Thousands of Twitter users retweeted the Pope. By July 1, 65,000 sent a...
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Sunday, July 10, 2011
Quotes and news
Bishop Giovanni Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, once more criticised Nato’s bombing campaign in Libya. “Bombing is always an immoral act. I respect Nato, but I must also declare that war is immoral.” Mgr Martinelli did not want to go...
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Thursday, July 7, 2011 by
AFP
Vatican secret archives to go on display
The Vatican is to unlock its secret archives for an exhibition on Rome’s Capitol Hill next year, officials said. Documents including an account of the 17th century heresy trial of telescope inventor Galileo Galilei will leave the Holy See for the...
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Thursday, July 7, 2011 by
AFP
Irish Catholic sex abuse compensation offer falls short
Ireland’s religious orders are failing to meet their share of an estimated €1.36 billion compensation bill for victims of sex abuse, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said. Predominantly Catholic Ireland has been rocked by a series of child sex abuse...
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Sunday, July 3, 2011 by
Fr René Camilleri
Reshaping life
Today’s readings: Zech 9, 9-10; Rom 8, 9.11-13; Matt 11, 25-30. One of the lessons we learn in life sooner or later is that we need to look after ourselves and treat ourselves gently. With time we discover how fragile and vulnerable our body, heart...
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Sunday, July 3, 2011 by
Fr Joe Borg
New language, narrative
For centuries, the Church in Malta had a monopoly of structures and a monopoly of values. It was by far the biggest structure in our islands and had the duty to shoulder roles which, though they were not an intrinsic part of the Church’s core...
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Sunday, July 3, 2011
Quotes and news
Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, said there is “no fundamental obstacle” in Catholic theology that would preclude women’s ordination in the future. He added, though, that he is not advocating women’s ordination, because of a...
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Saturday, July 2, 2011 by
AFP
Official Vatican newspaper marks 150th anniversary
The official Vatican newspaper, which marked its 150th anniversary yesterday, stands out as “a paper of ideas” in a world increasingly dominated by secular ideology, Pope Benedict XVI said. A Latin proverb meaning “the gates of hell shall not...
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Saturday, July 2, 2011 by
AFP
Theology still has role to play in scientific thinking – Pope
Scientists should give more recognition to Christian thinkers, Pope Benedict XVI said, as he awarded the Ratzinger prize for the first time, to three theologians. Theology, which he described as the science of faith, still had a role to play in...
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by
Mihaela Rodina, AFP
Romanian Orthodox Church attracts cyber-followers
The Romanian Orthodox Church, known as a bastion of conservatism, has broken a taboo by embracing the internet and tending to its flock via cyberspace. Believers are now invited to send prayers via the Internet, seek their soulmate on Orthodox-only...
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by
AFP
Patriarch of Burmese Church on path to sainthood in Milan
An Italian missionary who spent most of his life helping the poor in Myanmar was put on the path to sainthood on Sunday, in a beatification ceremony held in Milan’s Cathedral Square. Called the Patriarch of the Burmese Church by Pope John Paul II in...
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Sunday, June 26, 2011 by
Fr René Camilleri
Pointing outwards
Today’s readings: Deut 8, 2-3.14-16; 1 Cor. 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58. Like the Jews at the time of Jesus, we also seem divided on the real meaning and implications of the Eucharist in public life. The natural setting for the institution of the...
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Sunday, June 26, 2011 by
Fr Joe Borg
Catholic atheism is on the rise
Following the massive Yes vote in the referendum, a strong bout of Catholic atheism is definitively on the rise, though it has not yet reached the stage of an epidemic. As the words ‘Catholic’ and ‘atheism’ do not normally stand together an...
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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Quotes and news
The Vatican is against the use of condoms and needle-exchange programmes as part of an anti-HIV/AIDS campaign. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, said the Vatican “does not endorse the use of condoms as part of HIV...
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Thursday, June 23, 2011 by
Suzana Markovic, AFP
Icon-painting nuns combine religion and art in convent life
On the wooded slopes of southwestern Serbia’s Golija mountain, a dozen nuns at the Gradac monastery have devoted their lives to God but have not turned their backs on their lifelong passion: Painting. Twenty years ago Jasna Topolski, already a...
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Sunday, June 19, 2011 by
Fr René Camilleri
God’s home
Today’s readings: Ex. 34, 4-6.8-9; 2 Cor. 13, 11-13; Jn 3, 16-18. God’s identity is hard to define. We believe in the revelation of a God who, while remaining holy and shrouded in mystery, is ‘God with us’. God is not a concept. In the Scriptures,...
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Sunday, June 19, 2011 by
Fr Joe Borg
Let’s stop fooling ourselves
I regularly meet people who voted No in the referendum who are still in denial mode, saying there isn’t a majority for divorce. They say 53 per cent of voters is just 38 per cent of the population. Small consolation when one considers that 47 per...
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Sunday, June 19, 2011
Quotes and news
As from January 1, the Hungarian constitution will protect human life from the moment of conception. “Human dignity is inviolable,” the constitution states. “Everyone has the right to life and human dignity; the life of a foetus will be protected...