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More than 200 people have died and 96 others are missing in the mudslides and floods triggered by recent torrential rains. According to the government’s Disaster Management Center, as of Wednesday, 203 people have lost their lives, more than 77,000 have been displaced and over 1,500 homes have been destroyed since rains began inundating the southern and western areas of the Indian Ocean island nation last Friday.Water-borne diseases loom largeSri Lanka's army, navy and air force are continuing relief and rescue efforts, supported by divers and navy personnel who have arrived from India. The United Nations office in Sri Lanka said 16 hospitals directly affected by floods or landslides have been evacuated fully or partially. With an increasing number of displaced people and a lack of space in temporary shelters, many people are at risk of disease, the U.N said. Sri Lanka has seen a significant increase in mosquito-borne dengue fever this year,...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged Albanian bishops to “work more intensely for vocations” and to be attentive to the dangers of a materialistic society.Speaking to the Albanian Bishops Conference on their ad limina visit, the Pope also asked them to form young people in Christian values to help them influence society for the better.Among the bishops was the Maltese Dominican Archbishop George Frendo, recently appointed to the Archdiocese of Tiranë-Durrës.Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Klaudia Bumci, the Archbishop said the prelates expressed concerns to Pope Francis about the financial situation of the Church in Albania which is “very poor”.Archbishop Frendo also spoke to the Pope of his worry about numbers of priests in his diocese. “We have the largest number of Catholics now – 150,000,” he said. “But in this big diocese I only have 30 priests. I have started making my pastoral visits and it’s really painful...
(Vatican Radio) In a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis has expressed his condolences to all those affected by the bombing carried out in the diplomatic zone of Kabul on Wednesday.Below, please find the full text of the telegram, addressed to Afghanistan's ambassador to Italy:Having learned with sadness of the abhorrent attack in Kabul and of the many dead and seriously injured, Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt condolences to all affected by this brutal act of violence. His Holiness commends the souls of the deceased to the mercy of the Almighty, and assures the people of Afghanistan of his continued prayers for peace.
Vatican City, May 31, 2017 / 06:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a major suicide bomb tore through a busy neighborhood in Kabul, killing at least 80 people, Pope Francis condemned the ‘brutal’ act, offering his prayers for the victims and for peace in the country.“Having learned with sadness of the abhorrent attack in Kabul and of the many dead and seriously injured, Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt condolences to all affected by this brutal act of violence,” a May 31 telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.Pope Francis, he said, “commends the souls of the deceased to the mercy of the Almighty, and assures the people of Afghanistan of his continued prayers for peace.”The Pope’s letter, addressed to Afghani ambassador to Italy, was sent hours after a suicide bomb exploded in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul, Afghanistan, killing some 80 people and wounding nearly 300 others, according to CNN.Hidden in a wate...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' very public friendshipwith and overtures to Pentecostal and evangelical leaders is a high-profilereflection of a relationship that already existed at the grass roots between Catholiccharismatics and some of their Spirit-filled neighbors, leaders of the renewal said.While some Pentecostals in some parts of the world,especially in Latin America, have a reputation for trying to convince Catholicsto leave the church, the reality of the Catholic-Pentecostal relationship ismuch more varied.In many places, they share praise, worship, music and Biblestudies with Catholic charismatics, and they set out together to proclaim toall that Jesus is Lord and work alongside each other to feed the poor anddefend the unborn.Pope Francis invited some 300 Pentecostal and evangelicalleaders to Rome to join an estimated 30,000 Catholic charismatics incelebrating Pentecost and marking the 50th anniversary of the Catholiccharismatic r...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians are called to be"sowers of hope," consoling and defending the poor and anyone inneed, Pope Francis said.As Christians prepared to celebrate Pentecost June 4, Pope Francis used hisweekly general audience May 31to speak about the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the hope ofbelievers and to send them forth to instill hope in others.Sowing bitterness or perplexity, he said, "isn'tChristian and if you do this, you aren't Christian. Sow hope. Spread the oil ofhope, diffuse the perfume of hope and not the vinegar of bitterness andhopelessness."In his Letter to the Romans (15:13), St. Paul prays, "May the God of hope fillyou with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by thepower of the Holy Spirit."Having an abundance of hope, Pope Francis said, means notonly hoping that when life is over one will be with God. It also means havingthe strength today to continue hoping "even when there is les...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A NASA spacecraft will aim straight for the sun next year....
MARAWI, Philippines (AP) -- There was food and water- welcome commodities amid the frequent tears. There was, finally, safety, at least for the moment. And there were stories - stories of things that mothers and fathers hope never happen to their families....
It's worth remembering now that one of the first times "Tiger Woods" and "drugs" turned up in the same sentence, it was just a punchline....
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Latest on the massive suicide truck bombing that hit the Afghan capital, Kabul, during morning rush hour (all times local):...
