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 Pope's general audience of June 19
Pope Francis held his weekly general audience on Wednesday, focusing this time on the Church as the Body of Christ. The public meeting is an opportunity for pilgrims and tourists visiting Rome to be able see and hear the Pope, and also receive his blessing. The general audience of June 19th was held in the open, in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square. It began with aides reading a passage from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians in several languages.
Listen to scripture passage: 
Basing himself on the scripture passage, Pope Francis delivered his main discourse in Italian - summaries of which were then read out by aides in various languages, including in English.
Listen:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on the Creed, today we consider the Church as the Body of Christ. Throug ...»
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 Hypocrisy hurts the Church, says Pope
(June 19, 2013) Hypocrisy is bad for the Church. Hypocrites with their boastings bring people on a dead-end street, and moralists with a lot of precepts but without any goodness are also bad for the Church. Pope Francis said this at Mass on Wednesday held at Santa Marta Residence in the Vatican. Referring to a passage from St. Matthew concerning Scribes and Pharisees, the Pope showed the contras ...»
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Pope appeals for refugees, defence of human life
(June 19, 2013) Pope Francis on Wednesday made a heartfelt appeal to the world not to be indifferent to the suffering of refugees and their families, and also called for the promotion and defence of human life in all its dimensions and phases. Speaking at the end of his weekly general audience the Pope reminded pilgrims and visitors about the United Nations-sponsored World Day of Refugees, o ...»
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 St. Joseph's name added to Mass texts
(June 19, 2013) Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI have a special devotion to St. Joseph and have assured that devotion regularly will be shared at Mass by Catholics around the world. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said Pope Francis confirmed a decision originally made by Pope Benedict to include St. Joseph permanently in the Eucharistic prayers used at most Masse ...»
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Forgiving our enemies makes us more like Jesus: Pope Francis
Vatican City, 18 June 2013: Loving our enemies is difficult, but that is what Jesus asks of us, said Francis Pope during the Mass he celebrated on Tuesday morning at Santa Marta Residence in the Vatican. The Pope stressed that in order to forgive our enemies, it is essential to pray for them to change their hearts. The Mass, concelebrated by Cardinal Joseph Versaldi, was attended by a group o ...»
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 Pope Francis opens Rome Diocesan Convention 2013
Vatican City, 18 June 2013: The revolutions of history have changed the political and economic conditions, but none of them has really changed the heart of man. The real revolution, the one that transforms the life, Jesus Christ has accomplished through His Resurrection, said Pope Francis to the participants in the pastoral convention of the Rome diocese on Monday evening, at the opening of th ...»
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| Human Rights & Environment |
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 Young Pakistani activist launches drive for safe, universal education
(June 19, 2013) A 15-year-old Pakistani girl targeted by assassins, Malala Yousafzai, is the first signatory of a new worldwide petition calling for urgent action to ensure the right of every child to safely attend school. It was launched on Monday with the backing of the United Nations Special Envoy for Education. The launch came in the wake of an attack that killed 14 students at an all girls ...»
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Caritas Nepal against slave-like child labour
Kathmandu, 18 June 2013: A report by the Children and Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH) found that most domestic workers in Nepal are aged between 10 and 14 years even though the minimum age for work under the law is 14. CWISH is an NGO that cares for street kids and fights against child labour and the sexual exploitation of children. Caritas Nepal recently held a workshop t ...»
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 US bishops' group approves $9 million in anti-poverty funds
Washington D.C., 18 June 2013: The domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has approved more than $9 million in grants to help alleviate poverty and injustice throughout the United States.
Ralph McCloud, director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, said in a June 17 statement that “Catholics should be proud of this opportunity to get involved in makin ...»
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World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
17 June, 2013 - Countries must work collectively to build resilience and prepare themselves against drought, the United Nations chief stressed on Monday, highlighting the extensive costs of this global threat. “Droughts are hard to avert, but their effects can be mitigated. Because they rarely observe national borders they demand a collective response,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said i ...»
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 Belgium on verge of legalizing child euthanasia
Belgium, 15 June 2013: Belgium might become the first country in the world to allow seriously ill children the right to choose to die if lawmakers in the Federal Parliament decide to expand on the already controversial euthanasia laws.
While the Netherlands has also stopped prosecuting doctors who perform euthanasia on minors, as long as strong medical guidelines are followed, Belgium could becom ...»
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The Vatican Radio started its English broadcast for South Asia in 1958, with a weekly 10-minute news transmission. Jesuit Father Thomas O’Donnell was its first Director and the broadcast was specially made for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In 1964 South Asia got a boost when Pope Paul VI visited Bombay, India for the World Eucharistic Congress from 2nd to 5th of December. Consequently, in 196 ...» |
Pope Francis on 17 June 2013
Are you angry with someone? Pray for that person. That is what Christian love is.
Pope Francis on 16 June 2013
Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.
Pope Francis on 12 June 2013
How many kinds of moral and material poverty we face today as a result of denying God and putting so many idols in his place!
Pop ...» |
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(June 19, 2013) Flash flooding created by heavy rains forced officials to close the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France on Tuesday.(June 18). Authorities evacuated about 200 people, most of them from campgrounds near the shrine, after wate ...» |
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(June 19, 2013) The Catholic Church in Japan has honoured Dr Leo Harutsugu Yamaura, a physician, who dedicated his entire professional life to the poor, by awarding him the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal , which is bestowed upon members of th ...» |
New York, 18 June 2013: IV International Forum on Migration and Peace will be held at the New York Law School, in New York City on June 20 and 21, announced on Monday by Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), along with the Mayor' ...» |
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Milan, 18 June 2013: Italy’s Ca'Granda, once one of Milan's oldest Church-run hospitals, home since 1958 of the city's Università degli Studi, and scene in 1968 of students' protests and after that of Italy's terrorist wave, was the setting for th ...» |
17 June, 2013 - Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury said his private conversation with Pope Francis on Friday was "very personal," with the new leaders of the Catholic Church and of the Anglican Communion discussing how their position ...» |
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| The Faithful Witness -Year of Faith Sp. |
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Zech 12:10-11, 13: 1; Gal 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24 C.S. Lewis in his teens was a professed agnostic. He was influenced in his conversion to Christianity by reading the book The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton, and by two of his Christian friends ...» |
II Sm 12: 7-10, 13; Gal 2:16, 19-21; Lk 7: 36-8: 3
William Miller, in The Joy of Feeling Good, relates the story of a woman who went to a psychiatrist because she was severely depressed. As her therapist began to probe her emotions, he discovere ...» |
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I Kings 17: 17-24; Gal 1: 11-19; Luke 7: 11-17 Eric Clapton who was one of the most influential musicians of the rock era, on a warm spring day in March of 1991 received a phone call from his wife, Lori. In a frantic voice she told him that thei ...» |
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Gen 14:18-20; I Cor 11: 23-26; Luke 9: 11b-17 Mother Teresa was given a reception by the cruel Communist dictator Enver Hoxha who ruled Albania for 40 years from 1945 to 1985. He imposed atheism as the official religion in 1967. The possession of ...» |
Prv 8:22-31; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15
Mark Link in his Sunday Homilies has a wonderful story of a missionary from Africa, on his home-leave, came across a beautiful sundial. He thought to himself, “That sundial would be ideal for my villagers i ...» |
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Udupi, India, 18 June 2013: Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi in India created history by appointing a Catholic nun as the treasurer of the diocese.
17 June, 2013 - Gunmen killed two anti-polio workers on Sunday in northwest Pakistan, police said, the latest violence directed at efforts t 
UN, 15 June 2013: India looks set to overtake China as the world's most populous country from 2028, according to the United Nations.
June 13, 2013: The 'Nirbhaya Bhavan' built in the memory of 23-year-old girl who was gang raped in Delhi will be the new headquarter of Nationa 