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Lund, Sweden, Oct 31, 2016 / 08:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a joint declaration signed for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Catholic and Lutheran leaders apologized for division in the Church and pledged to work for greater unity.“Fifty years of sustained and fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans have helped us to overcome many differences, and have deepened our mutual understanding and trust,” the statement said.“At the same time, we have drawn closer to one another through joint service to our neighbours – often in circumstances of suffering and persecution. Through dialogue and shared witness we are no longer strangers. Rather, we have learned that what unites us is greater than what divides us.”The joint statement was signed on Oct. 31, 2016, during Pope Francis’ trip to Sweden to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.“While we are profoundly thankful for the spiritual and theological gif...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenMALMO, Sweden (CNS) -- Under athick gray sky, Pope Francis was welcomed to Sweden with a small formalceremony, which conveyed by its brevity that the trip was not a formal statevisit, but had another purpose.Flying to Malmo Oct. 31, PopeFrancis told reporters that the trip was a "very important ecclesialevent" because of its ecumenical focus. He also asked that the journalists helpin explaining the trip "so that people understand it well."Arriving at the Malmo airport, hewas greeted by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and by Archbishop AntjeJackelen, primate of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, as well as by the country'slone Catholic bishop, Bishop Anders Arborelius of Sweden.A military band played the Vaticanand Swedish national anthems as the pope and prime minister stood facingSweden's flag, which is blue with a yellow cross. Members of the general publicwere not present for the welcoming ceremony.The pope met briefly in an airportVIP loung...
By Junno Arocho EstevesROME (CNS) -- Priests in central Italy were instructedto celebrate Mass outdoors following another devastating earthquake that rockedthe region and brought one its most spiritually and historically significantchurches tumbling down.Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve advised priests to not celebrate Massindoors over the next several days, including Nov. 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, which is alsoa national holiday in Italy.The 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Norcia in the earlymorning Oct. 30 andreduced the Basilica of St. Benedict to rubble.Atthe noonday Angelus Oct. 30, Pope Francis prayed for the "the wounded and the families that have suffered majordamage as well as for the personnel involved in rescue efforts and in aidingthe victims. "May the Risen Lord give them strength and Our Ladywatch over them," the pope said. The Benedictine monks of Norcia assisted in reliefefforts as well as helping to guide anxious residents to the town...
By Cindy WoodenLUND, Sweden (CNS) -- UrgingCatholics and Lutherans to take decisive steps toward unity, Pope Francisnevertheless offered no new openings to the idea of sharing Communion beforefull unity is achieved."We Christians will becredible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal andreconciliation are daily experienced in our midst," the pope said Oct. 31during an ecumenical prayer service in the Lutherans' Lund cathedral, which wasbuilt as a Catholic cathedral in the 11th century.With the prayer service, PopeFrancis and leaders of the Lutheran World Federation launched a year ofactivities to mark the 500th anniversary in 2017 of Martin Luther's efforts toreform the church.For Pope Francis and the Vatican,Catholics are called to commemorate the event by focusing on concrete ways toexpress and strengthen the doctrinal agreements reached by Catholic andLutheran theologians over the past 50 years. The most appropriate way to markthe anniversary, they said, was ...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Did Bill Cosby drug and molest young women as part of a "signature" crime spree spanning five decades? Prosecutors preparing for his sexual-assault trial hope to call 13 of about 60 accusers to show just that....
BOSTON (AP) -- The blinking game show wheel spins past logos for Triscuits, Wheat Thins and Honey Maid before the needle settles at Fig Newtons....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Lebanon's parliament on Monday elected Michel Aoun, an 81-year-old former army commander and strong ally of the militant group Hezbollah, as the country's president, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the top post and a political crisis that brought state institutions perilously close to collapse....
LUND, Sweden (AP) -- Pope Francis marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation by travelling to secular Sweden on Monday and encouraging Catholics and Lutherans to move beyond the "errors" of the past to forge greater unity, including sharing in the Eucharist....
BAZWAYA, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi special forces advanced on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul from the east on Monday, taking heavy fire but seizing the last IS-held village before the city's eastern limits and clearing a path that was followed by army units....
LEEDEY, Okla. (AP) -- A weeklong manhunt for a suspect in a string of violent crimes, including the killing of two relatives, the shooting of three law enforcement officers and multiple carjackings, has ended in a police chase and shootout that left the man dead in western Oklahoma....
