(Vatican Radio) World Youth Day celebrations are underway in Krakow, with pilgrims continuing to gather in the ancient Polish city. They are participating in some of the hundreds of catechetical, spiritual, and formative programmes being offered in different languages all throughout the city in the days ahead of the culminating prayer vigil and World Youth Day Mass on Sunday.One of the lead catechists for the English-speaking pilgrims is Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Ct.Vatican Radio’s special envoy in Krakow, Lydia O’Kane, asked Bishop Caggiano about his hopes for the experience over the long term. “In many ways, World Youth Day plants a seed in the hearts of all, who attend,” he said. “That is a precious gift,” continued Bishop Caggiano. “That seed is meant to grow: that seed is meant to strengthen their faith, their hope, and their desire to love.”Click below to hear our extended conversation with Bishop F...
(Vatican Radio) World Youth Day celebrations are underway in Krakow, with pilgrims continuing to gather in the ancient Polish city. They are participating in some of the hundreds of catechetical, spiritual, and formative programmes being offered in different languages all throughout the city in the days ahead of the culminating prayer vigil and World Youth Day Mass on Sunday.
Vatican Radio’s special envoy in Krakow, Lydia O’Kane, asked Bishop Caggiano about his hopes for the experience over the long term. “In many ways, World Youth Day plants a seed in the hearts of all, who attend,” he said. “That is a precious gift,” continued Bishop Caggiano. “That seed is meant to grow: that seed is meant to strengthen their faith, their hope, and their desire to love.”
Click below to hear our extended conversation with Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Ct.
Young people, however, are not the only ones receiving the seeds sown at World Youth Day.
Bishop Caggiano went on to say that his own experience of World Youth Day has borne this out. “I feel enormously blessed to have participated in the last three [World Youth Days], and now this one in Krakow: because, quite frankly – I think I could speak for all priests, religious, and bishops – we all have the same experience – we leave far more blessed, and far more encouraged, and far more hopeful for the Church at the end of [WYD], than – perhaps – when we arrived.”
The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.Del Grande's motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande's motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered bois...
null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 10:52 am (CNA).Following a recent Vatican declaration on human dignity, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales condemned medical and social transgenderism while encouraging a "sensitive" response in a pastoral reflection released on Wednesday.The Vatican's doctrinal office came down strongly against gender ideology, stating that "all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected."The Catholic bishops of England and Wales followed the Vatican's lead in their April 24 statement, "Intricately Woven by the Lord," which encouraged rooting pastoral care in "acceptance … of the body as created." "We cannot encourage or give support to reconstructive or drug-based medical intervention that harms the body," they wrote. "Nor can we legitimize or uphold a way of living that is not respectful of the truth and vocation of each man and each woman, called to ...
null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).Louisiana State Police have obtained a new search warrant to collect documents from the Archdiocese of New Orleans as part of an ongoing investigation into Church abuse in that state.State police spokesman Jacob Pucheu confirmed to CNA on Thursday that the bureau had obtained the warrant as part of its investigation into "numerous complaints of child sexual abuse" leveled at the archdiocese. The inquiry was first launched in 2022, he said."As part of the ongoing investigation, on Monday, April 22, 2024, SVU investigators obtained an additional search warrant to collect information and documents from the Archdiocese of New Orleans," Pucheu told CNA."The archdiocese is cooperating with investigators to fulfill the terms of the search warrant," he said. "This investigation remains ongoing with no further information available at this time."Pucheu declined to directly provide a copy of the warrant, saying that "since it is...