People struck by Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, were the subject of an international conference in Rome last week. Jointly organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers and a number of charitable foundations and organizations, the June 9-10th conference brought together leading experts in treating and caring for those with Hansen’s disease from across the world to discuss the theme, “Towards Holistic Care for People with Hansen’s Disease, Respectful of their Dignity.” Although curable, around 200,000 new cases of Hansen’s disease are diagnosed each year worldwide and this has a devastating impact on their social and economic future, forcing patients, sometimes with their entire family, to live on the margins of society. The disfiguring yet curable disease is still very prevalent in many poor areas of the world, especially in India, Brazil and Indonesia. Among those participating in th...
People struck by Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, were the subject of an international conference in Rome last week. Jointly organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers and a number of charitable foundations and organizations, the June 9-10th conference brought together leading experts in treating and caring for those with Hansen’s disease from across the world to discuss the theme, “Towards Holistic Care for People with Hansen’s Disease, Respectful of their Dignity.”
Although curable, around 200,000 new cases of Hansen’s disease are diagnosed each year worldwide and this has a devastating impact on their social and economic future, forcing patients, sometimes with their entire family, to live on the margins of society. The disfiguring yet curable disease is still very prevalent in many poor areas of the world, especially in India, Brazil and Indonesia.
Among those participating in the conference was Indian priest Fr. Arputham Arulsamy, assistant director of the Catholic Health Association of India or CHAI. In an interview to Vatican Radio, Fr. Arulsamy spoke about the situation of Hansen’s disease in India. He began talking about his experience at the Vatican conference.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the signing of the ELVIS Act to Protect Voice & Likeness in Age of AI event at Robert's Western World on March 21, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. / Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Human Artistry CampaignWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).The first English-language translation of the Bible in the United States will become an "official state book" in Tennessee on July 1.Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a bill on Tuesday that names the Aitken Bible and nine other texts as official state books in the Tennessee Blue Book (an official manual on the state government). This is the first time Tennessee has formally recognized any official state books.The Bible translation was published by Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken in 1782 and received an official endorsement from Congress. The American Revolution, which began in 1776, halted trade with Great Britain and cut off the supply of Bibles, which prompte...
Cardinal Wilton Gregory speaks at an interview in Rome on April 11, 2024. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly" screen shotRome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).As the Catholic Church's first African American cardinal was honored at a U.S. seminary in Rome, he recalled the legacy of faith and perseverance of Black Catholics in America, including at a time when they were not accepted by U.S. seminaries. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, received this year's Rector's Award at an April 11 banquet at the Pontifical North American College, where seminarians from across 99 dioceses in the U.S. live while studying for the priesthood in Rome.In an interview with CNA before the award ceremony, Gregory pointed out that in the 19th century, African Americans who had a vocation to the priesthood were sent to study in Rome and then to serve as missionaries in Africa because at the time they were not allowed to enter U.S. seminaries."Being in Rome reminds me also tha...
Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako presides over the dedication ceremony of the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mosul, Iraq. April 5, 2024. / Credit: Fadi Dinkha/ACI MenaCNA Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).When the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chaldean Catholic Church was consecrated earlier this month in Mosul, Iraq, a former parishioner now living in the United States said she was moved to tears."My eyes were filled with tears as I watched my church and my school return to the beautiful picture engraved in my memory," said Georgena Habbaba, who used to attend the parish and study at the parish school with her brothers. Her own children studied there, too, before the family had to flee Mosul amid worsening violence in 2007. (Note: Habbaba also writes for ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner.)"I remembered the wonderful days I spent studying at this school and praying in this church. Very close to my family's house," she t...