EDMONTON - Paulist Father Thomas Ryan was turning 50 when he decided he didn’t want just another birthday cake, a scoop of ice cream and “Happy Birthday” sung to him.
Pope at his witty best in praising family life
By David Gibson, Religion News ServicePHILADELPHIA - A re-energized Pope Francis delighted tens of thousands of people crowded onto a thoroughfare in the city center on Saturday, delivering a folksy, off-the-cuff riff on family life that came late in the evening, and at the end of a long day of speeches and festivities that by any measure should have left the 78-year-old pontiff drained.
Pope makes passionate plea for religious freedom
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterPhiladelphia, Penn. - American composer Aaron Copland’s stirring “Fanfare for the Common Man” greeted a most uncommon pope, who proceeded to speak to America’s better angels on behalf of common men and women, who thronged Independence Mall in their thousands hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis.
'Let freedom ring!' Respect for rights helps society, Pope says
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServicePHILADELPHIA - Not far from where the Liberty Bell is on display, Pope Francis urged the people of the United States to continue to "proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," as the bell's inscription says.
Casting the NET onto new public squares
By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic RegisterWhen the Apostles first set out to evangelize to the world, they stood in public squares to preach about the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ resurrection. But today, Brian Holdsworth said the new public squares are on the Internet and this is where the Church must be.
Ethiopians yearn for religious experience
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia is not like the rest of Africa. Just ask an Ethiopian.
Africa takes its place in universal Church
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - The Catholic Church is more African than most Canadians realize. We pay no attention to the early African popes — Gelasius I (492 to 496), Miltiades (311 to 314) and Victor I (189 to 199). We gloss over the African origins of some of the most significant writers and thinkers of early Christianity, including the evangelist Mark, author of the oldest Gospel in the canon, and theologians Tertullian, Origen and St. Augustine of Hippo.
Pope challenges religious to create ministries that inspire young people
By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News ServicePHILADELPHIA - Pope Francis encouraged Pennsylvania's Catholic clergy and women and men religious to challenge young people to develop "high ideals, generosity of spirit and love for Christ and the church."
New York Pope
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
Pope brings Gospel of 'encounter' to Madison Square Garden
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceNEW YORK - Seeing New York for the first time in his 78 years of life, Pope Francis said he knew Madison Square Garden was an important gathering place for sporting events and concerts. For him, it was transformed into a chapel in the heart of the Big Apple.
Pope at 9/11 Memorial: Violence is never impersonal, always brings tears
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceNEW YORK - Honoring both the pain and the strength of the families of those who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and drawing on the pools of water that are part of the site's memorial, Pope Francis spoke about tears and quenching the world's longing for peace."The water we see flowing toward that empty pit remind us of all those lives" lost in 2001, he said. "The flowing water is also a symbol of our tears. Tears at so much devastation and ruin, past and present."