• Home
  • About Us
  • Support
  • Concerts & Events
  • Music & Media
  • Faith
  • Listen Live
  • Give Now

Article Archive

Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on Thursday levelled a series of allegations against Pakistan, including enforced disappearances,, extrajudicial killings, the death penalty, blasphemy laws and cyber crackdown.Enforced disappearancesEnforced disappearances, seen in tribal areas and Baluchistan for the past 15 years, have become widespread across Pakistan, UNHRC member Olivier de Frouville told reporters.  "This is an admitted fact even within the country that this is carried out by agents of the state," he said, adding that the government's own investigations were insufficient.  A high number of people were allegedly in secret detention in military internment centres, the committee's report said. Killings were allegedly perpetrated by the police, military and security forces but there was no law explicitly against such practices. The Geneva-based UNHRC is a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Internation...
(Vatican Radio) Exactly four years ago, on July 29 2013, Jesuit priest Father Paolo Dall’Oglio was abducted in the rebel-held eastern city of Raqqa in Syria.Witnesses said Father Paolo was kidnapped while he was walking in the city, which had fallen under the control of members of the so-called Islamic State . There has been no news of him since. Born in 1954, the Italian priest became a Jesuit in 1975 and worked extensively in dialogue and reconciliation.Fr Dall'Oglio served for 30 years at Deir Mar Musa, a 6th-century monastery 80 kilometers north of Damascus, which he singlehandedly transformed from a desert outpost of Syriac Catholicism into an internationally celebrated inter-faith cultural center.Poet and author Marius Kociejowski met Fr Dall’Oglio on more than one occasion whilst travelling in his beloved Syria. He told Linda Bordoni how Father Paolo loved the monastery right from the beginning, and worked hard to reconstruct and restore the Deir M...
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited the faithful in the 26 Dioceses of the country and all people of good will, to join in praying for the country. In a press statement issued 28 July 2017 at the Catholic Secretariat in Nairobi, by all the Bishops, the prelates propose to start Novena prayers for peaceful elections from 30 July to 7 August 2017. The country goes to the polls on 8 August.The Bishops also appeal to the youth in the country to restrain themselves from violence and instead urge them to become agents of peace. They encourage young people to embrace a culture of peace and to engage in peace-building activities.In the press statement, the Bishops further appeal to Kenyan media to remain objective and help create a peaceful environment that promotes justice, peace and reconciliation.They say that  the country's security agencies must also intensify their preparedness in assisting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) secure t...
(Vatican Radio)  At least two Catholic bishops have expressed outrage over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to abolish the country’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR).   Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon was the first to come down on the president saying he was "out of his mind."  The prelate said Duterte’s threats to close down the independent body only shows he has “no knowledge” about how governments should operate in a democratic society.At a press conference after his state of the nation address on July 24, Duterte said he wanted to shut down the commission, which has been critical of his sexist jokes and the killings associated with his brutal war on drugs.  The president went on the offensive saying that rather than solely targeting government men, CHR should speak out against killings perpetrated by suspected drug addicts and the atrocities committed by terrorists locked in an urban combat with th...
(USCCB) The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe approved over $4.8 million in funding for 206 projects in 22 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.Projects approved for funding include: * The Don Bosco Center for Education in Albania, founded 21 years ago, provides cultural, social, and academic resources to over 1,000 children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. The center provides stability and aid to the rapidly growing population of people from rural areas moving into the city to find work. The center also offers elementary, middle and high school education and has a vocational training center, a youth center, and a day care center. The grant will assist with necessary updates to the building to welcome more children and provide a safe environment for them. * A grant to support seven priests, five hieromonks, and eight religious sisters that serve the parishes near the war zone in Eas...
Young Catholics from Sri Lanka will not be able to participate in next week’s Asian Youth Day celebrations in Indonesia due to financial strains.  Father Malcolm Perera, National Chaplain for Catholic Youth Federation said on Thursday that several dioceses have informed him they were unable to send delegations as they could not cover the cost. Over 2000 young people from 21 Asian countries are expected to attend the Aug. 2-6 celebration in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, which has as its theme, "Joyful Asian Youth Living the Gospel in Multicultural Asia."  But before gathering in Yogyakarta, participants will first spend “Days in Dioceses” (DID) in 11 of Indonesia’s 37 dioceses, July 30-August 2.   "Sri Lanka has not been able to send young people to Asian church events for several years," said Father Perera who was appointed to the post recently.  "We will not attend this time but we will strive to ...
(Vatican Radio) The relics of the 4th century saint Nicholas of Myra return to Italy on Friday after spending over two months in Moscow and St Petersburg.The relics, which have been preserved in the Italian city of Bari since 1087, were taken to Russia on May 21st and have been venerated by an estimated two million Orthodox pilgrims since then.Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look at the ecumenical significance of this event.Listen:  Saint Nicholas, from Myra in modern day Turkey, is a popular figure in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. He’s the patron saint of several countries and cities besides Bari, but is best known as the benefactor who gave gold coins to be used as dowries for the daughters of a poor man who feared they would be sold into slavery if they couldn't marry. The coins, which were found inside the girls’ stockings, gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus or Father Christmas.Orthodox pilgrims queue for hoursBut a wealth of other stor...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Michael Roytek, courtesy Boy Scouts of AmericaBy GLEN JEAN, W.Va. (CNS) -- Scoutingdevelops generosity, service and fraternity, which are all values "ourworld sorely needs," the papal nuncio told Catholic Scouts gathered for aJuly 23 Mass during the annual Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree."These values are the antidoteto the selfishness and individualism of our society," ArchbishopChristophe Pierre said in his homily. "Scouting also encourages you towork together as a team, to share adventures, and to have a greater vision oflife and creation."The archbishop was the principalcelebrant of the outdoor Mass celebrated in Glen Jean at the Summit Betchel Reservein theNew River Gorge area of West Virginia. The July 19-28 jamboree drew25,000 Scouts and troop leaders from around the country; about 7,500 attendedthe Mass.Concelebrants included twoofficials of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, both of whom areEagle Scouts: Msgr. John J.M. Foster, vicar ge...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Carlos Garcias, ReutersBy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Days before a referendum to elect a constituent assembly torewrite Venezuela's constitution, leaders of the country's bishops' conferencesaid the referendum is illegal and will only increase the suffering of thepeople.The July 30 referendum is "unconstitutional as well asunnecessary, inconvenient and damaging to the Venezuelan people," membersof the presiding council of the bishops' conference said in a statementreleased July 27. "It will be a biased and skewed instrument that willnot resolve but rather aggravate the acute problems of the high cost of living and the lack of food andmedicine that the people suffer and will worsen the political crisis wecurrently suffer," the statement said. Tensions have steadily increased under the government ofPresident Nicolas Maduro who continued to tighten his grip on power despitenationwide outrage against his administration of the country's crumbling economy....
IMAGE: CNS photo/Sashenka Gutierrez, EPABy David AgrenMEXICOCITY (CNS) -- An anarchist group calling itself "Informal FeministCommando of Anti-Authoritarian Action Coatlicue" has claimed credit for detonatingan explosive device outside the Mexican bishops' conference offices.Thegroup said via an online posting in late July: "Not God nor master. Foreach torture and murder in the name of your God. For every child abused bypedophile priests." Littleis known about the group, though it is believed to detonated a similar deviceMarch 17, Mexican media reported. Coatlicue is an Aztec goddess known as themother of gods.Thegroup also claimed the device at the bishops' office was made with dynamite,butane and propane. The Mexico City attorney general's office said in astatement the device was made with a fire extinguisher, gunpowder, adhesivetape and a wick. It also said it was turning over the case to the federalattorney general's office as the attack was on "a building administered bya relig...
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Soundcloud

Public Inspection File | EEO

© 2015 - 2021 Spirit FM 90.5 - All Rights Reserved.