(Vatican Radio) On Sunday Pope Francis will preside at a special Jubilee Mass for young people, with thousands of teenagers from all over the world expected to attend the celebration in St Peter’s Square. The Mass marks the culmination of a three day event designed especially for youngsters from 13 to 16 years old with the theme “Merciful like the Father”In a message, signed on the feast of the Epiphany this year, Pope Francis told young people that “to be merciful means to grow in a love which is courageous, generous and real”. Speaking to those travelling to Rome for the Jubilee, he said “Don’t just prepare your rucksacks and your banners, but your hearts and your minds as well”.One group of young people who’ve been preparing for this event in a special way is the choir from Worth School in the south of England, who’ll be singing in St Peter’s Square during the papal Mass. While the youngsters at the Catholic scho...
(Vatican Radio) On Sunday Pope Francis will preside at a special Jubilee Mass for young people, with thousands of teenagers from all over the world expected to attend the celebration in St Peter’s Square. The Mass marks the culmination of a three day event designed especially for youngsters from 13 to 16 years old with the theme “Merciful like the Father”
In a message, signed on the feast of the Epiphany this year, Pope Francis told young people that “to be merciful means to grow in a love which is courageous, generous and real”. Speaking to those travelling to Rome for the Jubilee, he said “Don’t just prepare your rucksacks and your banners, but your hearts and your minds as well”.
One group of young people who’ve been preparing for this event in a special way is the choir from Worth School in the south of England, who’ll be singing in St Peter’s Square during the papal Mass. While the youngsters at the Catholic school sing regularly for liturgies at the adjacent Benedictine abbey, they’re very aware of the significance of being the first British school choir to perform alongside the prestigious Sistine Chapel singers for this event.
Two of the choir members, Eli Barrott and Hannah Teasdale, came to talk to Philippa Hitchen about their experience, accompanied by their music director, Michael Oakley, and by an old boy from their school, Mark Spyropolous, who is now the first Englishman to perform full time with the Sistine Chapel choir.
Attendees lay flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan to mark the 109th anniversary of World War I-era mass killings on April 24, 2024. / Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).As historians and human-rights activists mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this week, some are warning that Armenia is once again facing another existential threat.Speaking on "EWTN News Nightly" on Wednesday, Simone Rizkallah, an Armenian activist with the Philos Project, said that "this feels less like a remembrance and more like a truly historical event that we are in the midst of."The Armenian Genocide was carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians, according to historians. Though recognized as a genocide by the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, Turkey denies that characterization.The massacre took place over a hundred ...
null / Orhan Cam/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).The addition of "gender identity" in the Biden administration's interpretation of anti-discrimination rules could jeopardize state laws that restrict women's sports and women's locker rooms to only women, according to legal scholars.Late last week, President Joe Biden's Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person's "gender identity." The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that "prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity."Although the new guidelines do not clearly explain how the mandate would be enforced, experts at the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNA that it could force educational institutions to allow men who...
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023. / Credit: Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von LachnerCNA Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).Four German bishops on Wednesday distanced themselves from the controversial Synodal Way's plans for a permanent body to oversee the Church in Germany, instead appealing for unity with the universal Church. The four bishops are the same who have previously blocked funding for this body: Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and three prelates from Bavaria: Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, of Eichstätt; Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.In a joint statement, the prelates confirmed on April 24 that they would not be parties to a committee charged with setting up a German "Synodal Council, as this would conflict with the sacramental constitution of the Church."The four bishops also rejected the view that the German Bishops' Conference could legally establish a "synod...