(Vatican Radio) After Pope Francis was officially welcomed to World Youth Day during a ceremony on Thursday evening, the Vice-Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, said “it is really clear [Pope Francis] is enjoying” his visit to Krakow, Poland.“You can tell he is at ease, very much at ease,” Burke told Vatican Radio.Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Greg Burke: “He did throw out a big challenge: Are you willing to change the world?” – Burke continued – “He talked about mercy having a young face – it always has a young face. He believes that, and he knows the young people believe that.”Burke said Friday would be a day of reflection, both with Pope Francis’ visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial in the morning, and the Via Crucis scheduled for the evening.“World Youth Day is all about fun, and it is about joy – and he talked about that today, he says that often you ...
(Vatican Radio) After Pope Francis was officially welcomed to World Youth Day during a ceremony on Thursday evening, the Vice-Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, said “it is really clear [Pope Francis] is enjoying” his visit to Krakow, Poland.
“You can tell he is at ease, very much at ease,” Burke told Vatican Radio.
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Greg Burke:
“He did throw out a big challenge: Are you willing to change the world?” – Burke continued – “He talked about mercy having a young face – it always has a young face. He believes that, and he knows the young people believe that.”
Burke said Friday would be a day of reflection, both with Pope Francis’ visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial in the morning, and the Via Crucis scheduled for the evening.
“World Youth Day is all about fun, and it is about joy – and he talked about that today, he says that often you know a Christian without joy, something is really missing,” Burke said.
“Now having said that, Christianity is also the Cross, and that’s a part of it, and the Pope is the first one to admit that,” he said.
The Augustine Institute's new facilities in Florissant, Missouri. / Credit: Boeing Company and Augustine InstituteCNA Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).The Augustine Institute, a Catholic educational and evangelization apostolate based in Denver for nearly two decades, announced on Tuesday that it will be moving its operations to a new campus in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The institute, founded in 2005 as a Catholic graduate theology school, currently has an enrollment of 550 students. It says on its website that it exists to serve "the formation of Catholics for the new evangelization" by "equip[ping] Catholics intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally to renew the Church and transform the world for Christ."The organization announced on Tuesday that it had purchased the former Boeing Leadership Center in Florissant, Missouri, just outside of downtown St. Louis. The school will "begin transitioning its operations over the next few years," it said in ...
Over a year after the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey in February 2023, restoration of Aleppo's Church of St. George has been completed. / Credit: Abdul Kareem DanielAleppo, Syria, Apr 23, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).This year's feast of St. George was a particularly joyful one in the Syrian city of Aleppo, especially for the Melkite Greek Catholic community. The church is reopening its doors after undergoing restoration due to damage from a February 2023 earthquake. Additionally, Archbishop George Masri of the Melkite Archdiocese of Aleppo and its environs will celebrate his golden jubilee.The celebrations took place during the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, who presided over the Divine Liturgy in the restored church on the evening of April 23. The evening before, there was a procession along Holy Bible Street followed by vespers.Restoration of the Church of St. George in Aleppo after the February 2023 earthquake...
Archbishop Luis Argüello and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. / Credit: Archdiocese of Valladolid; La MoncloaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Spanish government approved today in the Council of Ministers a plan to implement recommendations made in a report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. While recognizing some good points in the plan, the Spanish Bishops' Conference (known by its Spanish acronym CEE) issued a statement strongly objecting to what it called unfair treatment and discrimination against the Church by the government.Before giving details of the government's plan, the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Legislature, Félix Bolaños, extrapolating data from a survey commissioned by the People's Ombudsman, estimated that in Spain there are about 440,000 adults who were victims of sexual abuse as minors, representing 1.13% of the adult population in Spain."Around half of these abuses would have been committed...
