Drawing on the “Servant of Hope” theme of his recent trip to Morocco, Pope Francis told the faithful at his General Audience last week that “to serve hope in our day is to build bridges between cultures”. Thanking God for allowing him “to take another step along the road of dialogue and encounter with our Read more
Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japanese-born author of The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, and five other acclaimed English-language novels, was awarded the Nobel Prize on Thursday. No doubt, Ishiguro’s many Catholic fans, myself included, heartily applauded the news. In striking contrast to many modern novelists, his deeply moral stories go to the heart of the Read more
Imprisonment without offering the prisoners hope in the future is the same as torturing them, says Pope Francis. While he agrees prisoners must pay the price for the crimes they have committed, the punishment can be effective “only when inmates are helped to look toward the future rather than only back at a past lived Read more
In the middle of the current wave of political unrest, hunger and death, Venezuelan people are finding forgiveness is possible and there is hope for a better future. Violent demonstrations and attacks since the end of March have seen 92 people killed and over 1,500 injured. The new change in Venezuelan people’s attitudes began with Read more
The cause of canonization for the Italian laywoman Chiara Corbella opened June 13, the fifth anniversary of her death. Here is a recent interview with her husband: When Enrico Petrillo and Chiara Corbella were expecting their son Francesco, Chiara was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. Together, they decided to postpone treatment so Read more
Facebook and similar communications’ technologies could be used to alleviate poverty, encourage the culture of encounter and bring a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged. This week’s meeting at the Vatican between Pope Francis and Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of social networking giant Facebook, looked at ways to achieve this. The meeting Read more
This is my confession: I have a mental illness When I was 17, I was diagnosed with Chronic Depression (yeah, we’re diving straight in) but I believe that if I’d had the guts to see my doctor earlier, it would’ve been diagnosed when I was 13, or maybe even earlier. I suffered from Insomnia throughout Read more
Archbishop John Dew has contrasted the freedom of speech prevailing at the synod on the family with the atmosphere at a past synod. The Archbishop of Wellington told Vatican Radio that what is happening is very different from a synod on the Eucharist nine years ago. “ . . . I talked [then] about the possibility Read more
Bishop Peter Cullinane was one of a number of speakers at a recent multifaith event in Palmerston North. Prisms of Light – An Interfaith Conversation on how Compassion Transforms our Communities, explored how compassion is a central theme in the the living out of many world faith traditions. Other speakers were: Helen Chong spoke on roots of compassion Read more
In a sermon given in Auckland, the spiritual head of the Anglican communion has challenged the Church to overcome its fears. Preaching at a packed Holy Sepulchre Church in Newton, Archbishop Justin Welby said the Church has “so often lived in fear and often does so now”. “Fear causes our quarrels, whether it is sexuality Read more