In order to get the word out, he has compiled a list of websites where one can request prayers from religious communities.

He has also included links where one can donate to these communities. Continue reading

The headline reads:

Join us in prayer for New Zealand - Massive earthquake and devastating tsunami affects millions.

Lord,
Protect your children.
Bring peace to the frightened
And swift recovery to the injured.
Father God we ask for the earth to still
And the water to rest around New Zealand.
Blanket the people in your Holy Spirit
And give them strength.
Thank you, Father,
Amen.

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More than one hundred events took place over the past two weeks as part of the #PrayForOurPacific campaign.

The Pacific Climate Warriors, a network of young Pacific Island people who are rising peacefully to protect their nations from climate change, called on faith communities to join #PrayForOurPacific on their day of religious observance between the 3rd and 11th of September.

Events were organised in American Samoa, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Germany, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu,the United States and Vanuatu.

In the Solomon Islands, over thirty church youth groups organised a combined youth service, with a national broadcast of the event. "We want the whole nation to listen to this sermon because it's important for all of us to remember our roles as stewards of this planet," stated Stalin Konainao, 350 Solomon Islands Coordinator.

In Samoa, the Catholic and Presbyterian communities organised activities, the Methodist community engaged their youth networks, and the Baha'i faith organised a gathering for young people to discuss the power of prayer and climate change in the Pacific.

Beyond the Pacific Islands, Friends of the Earth, Rize for West Papua, Fossil Free UQ, Brisbane Solidarity Group, 350 Australia, and members of the Brisbane community formed a prayer circle at the Picnic Island Green in South Bank, Australia.

In the United States, the Tongan Community of San Mateo, California, held a week-long vigil which culminated with them praying together at their Sunday service.

Source

• blueandgreentomorrow.com
• twitter.com

Wesolowski, a former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died last week while awaiting trial at the Vatican on charges of child sex abuse and possessing child pornography.

He did not appear at the first day of his trial in July, but was taken to hospital.

A funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday by the papal almoner, Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, at the chapel of the Vatican Governate.

A sign of respect for the innocent victims, Archbishop Krajewski forewent the homily and instead invited the faithful to "reflect in silence on the great gift the Lord offers us with the Eucharist and offer it to our brother Joseph".

A Vatican spokesman said the silence instead of the homily was Archbishop Krajewski's idea.

There were more than twenty concelebrants at the funeral Mass.

These including Cardinal James Harvey, a former prefect of the Papal Household, and Msgr Wells, Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

There were also about 50 or so nuns belonging to various congregations, some monks and a group of journalists.

The rite was celebrated as it would be for a lay person, as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had dismissed Wesolowski from the clerical state.

The CDF rejected his appeal against this.

At the funeral, one of the prayers of the faithful, read by a Pauline nun, was for Wesolowski and another was for his victims.

The faithful reportedly prayed "for the soul of our brother Joseph, that the Lord may free it from the power of the darkness and from eternal death".

The celebrant then invoked forgiveness for all sins "so that the souls of our dead brothers may obtain the forgiveness they always yearned for".

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• ANSA
• Crux Now
• Image: Huffington Post

"The birth of the new prince will be a source of joy not only for the royal family but for the peoples of the United Kingdom and beyond," said Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

"I assure their royal highnesses of the prayers and best wishes of the Catholic Church in England and Wales for their new family."

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