(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis today said that “ours is a Church of martyrs”. Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta the Pope recalled the many Christians who are currently being persecuted and killed for their faith. Drawing inspiration from the First Reading of the Act of the Apostles which tells of the stoning and…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis today said that “ours is a Church of martyrs”. Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta the Pope recalled the many Christians who are currently being persecuted and killed for their faith. Drawing inspiration from the First Reading of the Act of the Apostles which tells of the stoning and…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis today said that “ours is a Church of martyrs”. Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta the Pope recalled the many Christians who are currently being persecuted and killed for their faith. Drawing inspiration from the First Reading of the Act of the Apostles which tells of the stoning and…
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(Vatican Radio) The chairman of the Department of International Affairs in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has called for solidarity with Christians in the Middle East and North Africa region. “Once more, it is with a sense of deep sadness and grief that we mourn the deaths of innocent Ethiopian Christian workers who were killed with such impunity by Daesh (ISIS) in Libya,” said Bishop Declan Lang, after hearing the news of the murder of innocent Ethiopian Christian workers in Libya. “Our sorrow can easily spill into anger when thinking of the mounting number of victims of such men who clothe their actions with religion while murdering civilians across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA),” he said. “Daesh (ISIS) strategy is two-fold – on the one hand, they and their followers are executing their own warped version of Islam, on the other, they are trying – desperately in some cases – to enrage world opinion so that our reactions of anger and retribution would justify in their own minds their heinous crimes and lead to further deaths and executions,” continued Bishop Lang. “Today, we pray for the repose of the souls of those innocent victims just as we prayed for the Coptic Christians who were killed in Libya too. We also pray for the families of those men who now have to cope not only with the loss of their loved ones, but also the loss of any economic support,” he added. “Our Christian faith encourages us to stand in solidarity with all those vulnerable peoples and communities across the MENA that spurn merciless and ungodly ideologies,” concluded Bishop Lang. “We therefore also join our prayers to those of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and beseech the Almighty that He will show the killers the way of peace and reconciliation.” (from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) – This morning, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae and in the presence of Pope Francis, the executive director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake, and the deputy president of CONMEBOL signed two collaboration agreements in favour of Scholas Occurrentes, the educational network supported by the Holy Father. UNICEF is the United Nations Children’s Fund, and CONMEBOL the South American Football Confederation. Scholas Occurrentes is a the first worldwide initiative with the aim of promoting integration and peace between peoples through education, connecting more than 400,000 schools and educational networks, both public and private and of all religions. The five-year collaboration with UNICEF will be based on the broadening of access for young children, especially the most disadvantaged, to technology, sport and the arts – platforms for education, participation and the building of peace, enabling the young to learn about themselves, others and the world that surrounds them. Scholas and UNICEF will initially cooperate in a series of joint activities worldwide, with the special aim of bringing an end to violence and promoting the connectedness of all young people, making the most of the unique capacities of each person to favour the participation of adolescents and to broaden their access to the tools and information they need to be connected, to communicate and to collaborate. The two organisations will explore the bonds between their respective platforms for mobilisation on social networks and communication media, and will support both digital campaigns and social movements in aid of the most disadvantaged children. The specific collaboration projects include involvement in the Scholas network in terms of content and opportunities for the participation by young people in “The young express their own opinion”, UNICEF’s online space for adolescents and young people. UNICEF will also adapt the U-Report for the Scholas global community, which will enable its members to join the 500,000 or so young people who already use the mobile-based platform to speak about their interests and to participate. The organisations will also develop new opportunities for collaboration in relation to major events centred on world youth, such as the Summit on the Social Impact of Youth, to be held during the Summer Games of the Special Olympics in 2015 in Los Angeles. In 2016, the association will begin to explore initiatives at regional, national and community levels, including campaigns to raise awareness and joint promotional activities linked to issues affecting millions of disadvantaged adolescents….