If the Catholic Church recognizes as “worthy of belief” only the initial alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, it would be the first time the church distinguished between phases of a single event, but it also would acknowledge that human beings and a host of complicating factors are involved, said a theological expert in Mariology. Read more
As warnings about the threat of rapid sea level-rise become increasingly urgent, one far-seeing, if dissenting, scientist has suggested it is likely the Biblical great flood did happen. “I don’t think the biblical deluge is just a fairy tale,” Terence J Hughes, a retired University of Maine glaciologist living in South Dakota, told the New York Read more
Two prominent and sometimes controversial cardinals, both seen as conservatives, recently have drawn stinging criticism in one case and a stirring defense in another, and both have come from extremely high-ranking sources. American Cardinal Raymond Burke was recently dismissed as a “disappointed man” upset over the loss of his power by fellow Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Read more
The Fred Hollows Foundation has reached a remarkable record with over one million eye operations and treatments achieved in just one year, for the first time in its history. “Performing one million eye operations and treatments in a single year is an important milestone and one I am incredibly proud of,” says Brian Doolan, Chief Read more
ROME – Unless there’s an unexpected change in schedule – and, with these two mavericks, one never knows – Pope Francis and President Donald Trump will meet each other for the first time on Wednesday. The encounter will take place in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, where the pontiff meets most heads of state who visit Read more
It’s not every day you find a group of young men, ranging from 15 to 18, who willingly make a three-year commitment to wake up at 6:30 a.m. every Sunday morning to pray and study in the house of the pope. “The boys’ willingness to come in the first place is a sign of a Read more
ROME – Mothers and women have always had a central role in the Catholic Church. The Virgin Mary is the ultimate example of its devotion to motherhood, to the point that one could say that every day is Mother’s Day in the Vatican. Pope Francis, following the legacy of the previous two pontiffs, has taken Read more
On May 13, 1981, thirty-six years ago, Pope John Paul II was on the brink of death. I wasn’t alive, but I’ve seen news reports from the time, and it’s horrifying to think what the faithful, and the world where going through. Like I said, I wasn’t born yet, and I’ve discovered some incredible facts Read more
The Spaniard who was until earlier this year Superior General of the Jesuits has written a series of reminiscences about his conversations with Pope Francis, published in two parts in the Spanish Jesuit publication Mensajero. Father Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, wrote them while spending some weeks in his native country before heading for the Philippines capital, Read more
Six months after Muhammed Yusuf had been sold, tortured and forced to watch as a friend died, he found himself back at the parched, dusty bus station where his ordeal began, facing the man who had made him a slave. Unembarrassed and unrepentant, the smuggler was still touting for business among the crowds flooding into Read more