A prayer service on June 29 at Holy Family Church in New York City not only recalled the sacrifices of African martyrs in church history but also paid tribute to those who have died recently for their faith in Nigeria, Kenya and other African states. • After the U.S. Episcopal Church voted on July 1 to allow gay couples to marry in church ceremonies, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, expressed deep concern about the stress that decision might cause within the 80 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion. • Noting his concern for average people caught up in the Greek economic crisis, Pope Francis said on July 1, “the dignity of the human person must remain at the center of any political and technical debate” aimed at ending the crisis. • As debate over the display of the Confederate battle flag in the aftermath of the Charleston shooting continued, vandals targeted monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, painting the slogan “Black lives matter” on memorials in a half-dozen states. • Louis Martin and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, will be canonized at the Vatican on Oct. 18 during the Synod of Bishops’ assembly on the family.
News Briefs
Show Comments ()
1
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Jim MacGregor
9 years 5 months ago
The Confederate battle flag, as I understand it, is properly used to memorialize those Americans who served in CSA forces. I have seen its use abused by radical groups. I have seen it used properly in memorial services at the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. Note that the Stars and Stripes are placed at each Confederate grave in Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, because they also were American veterans.
The latest from america
In this episode of Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the 2025 Jubilee Year, beginning on Christmas Eve 2024 and ending in January 2026.
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
‘If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!’
Inspired by his friend and mentor Henri Nouwen, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., invites listeners in his Christmas Eve homily to approach the manger with renewed awe and openness.