(Vatican Radio) Volunteers from around the world are in Krakow for World Youth Day. Without their help, there is no way the youth event would be able to be carried out.But why do they give up so much of their time – some work on the event for over a year – to travel to a country on the other side of the world? For most, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.Within our team we are really, really international,” said Viktoria Samp, a volunteer in World Youth Day’s Organizing Committee’s International Affairs Office.Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Viktoria Samp: “There are a lot of people from all over the world, from Asia, from all countries of Europe, from South America, and also from North America, so we have nearly the whole world here,” she continued.Paula Mora Diaz, a volunteer in the same office from Colombia, said she is impressed by the devotion of the people in Poland.“The experience has ...
(Vatican Radio) Volunteers from around the world are in Krakow for World Youth Day. Without their help, there is no way the youth event would be able to be carried out.
But why do they give up so much of their time – some work on the event for over a year – to travel to a country on the other side of the world? For most, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Within our team we are really, really international,” said Viktoria Samp, a volunteer in World Youth Day’s Organizing Committee’s International Affairs Office.
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Viktoria Samp:
“There are a lot of people from all over the world, from Asia, from all countries of Europe, from South America, and also from North America, so we have nearly the whole world here,” she continued.
Paula Mora Diaz, a volunteer in the same office from Colombia, said she is impressed by the devotion of the people in Poland.
“The experience has been really great because Poland is a really, really a [believing] country, and on Sundays…in the churches there are plenty of people,” she said.
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Paula Mora Diaz:
I love liturgy, and when the Mass is really, really well-respected in its liturgy, in how it has to be done, and these guys do it really great here…they have really good choirs, they kneel all the time before receiving the Holy Sacrament” – Mora Diaz continued – “there is a lot of respect towards God, and towards the Eucharistic, and towards the Faith itself. This experience has been really enlightening to my faith, and to my personal way to live, and way to behave in a Mass and also when I am praying.”
null / Credit: Peter Hermes Furian via ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on April 19 condemned the kidnapping and murder of a catechist in Burkina Faso, West Africa.In a news brief, ACN informed ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that catechist Edouard Yougbare was kidnapped on Thursday night by "terrorists, and his lifeless body was found near Zigni this morning."According to other local sources, along with Yougbare, who was a member of Saatenga parish in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso, more people were kidnapped and murdered."We are heartbroken by the loss of Yougbare. He served his community faithfully and his death is a devastating blow for the people of Saatenga," lamented Spaniard María Lozano, press and public relations director of ACN International."Catechists in Burkina Faso are on the front lines, risking their lives for the good of their people. Just two months ago, ano...
Pope Francis addresses the faithful at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Apr 19, 2024 / 10:07 am (CNA).In the latest move in Pope Francis' reform of the Vatican judiciary, the pope issued a new motu proprio on Friday on the retirement age and benefits for cardinal judges and magistrates in the Vatican's court system.The April 19 motu proprio states that Vatican magistrates will retire at the end of the judicial year in which they turn 75 and cardinal judges at the age of 80, unless Pope Francis asks them to remain in office beyond the age limit.Magistrates and judges who wish to resign from office before the retirement age can only do so with the approval of the pope.The pope also has the prerogative to dismiss magistrates unable to fulfill their duties at any time. Upon the termination of their duties, magistrates will retain the rights to assistance and welfare provided to Vatican citizens and employees.The motu proprio, wh...
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow announced on April 14, 2024, the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017. / Credit: The Helena Kmiec FoundationACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow, Poland, announced the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017.The prelate said that after the preliminary phase began in December 2022, he made the decision to officially open the process for Kmiec after having consulted the Polish Bishops' Conference and receiving the go-ahead from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints."With this edict I call on all those who have any document, letter, or information about the Servant of God, both positive and negative, to send them to the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow before June 30," the archbish...