16 October 2015 – Yemen’s spiralling crisis has caused “alarming malnutrition levels” among children because of the limited availability of and lack of access to food due to blocked or damaged delivery routes and restrictions on food and fuel imports caused by the conflict, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today. Continue reading More than half a million children now risk ‘severe malnutrition’ in Yemen
Pope Francis marks the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops as a permanent body, Oct 17th, 2015 – AFP
17/10/2015 12:49 (Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis on Saturday morning marked the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops as a permanent body. Continue reading Pope Francis marks 50th anniversary of Synod’s institution
16/10/2015 13:37
Archbishop Gerard Tlali Lerotholi of Maseru in Lesotho says the effects of the Apartheid-era migrant labour system continues to impact on families even now. Continue reading The Changing roles of family life in Lesotho
16/10/2015 17:06
(Vatican Radio) For a meeting entitled ‘The vocation and mission of the family in the church and the modern world’, it may come as a surprise to hear that Friday, at the end of the second week, was the first opportunity for the protagonists themselves to address the full assembly from the coalface of family life.
Continue reading Women at Synod of Bishops call for their voices to be heard
16/10/2015 16:55 (Vatican Radio)
Two fraternal delegates were guests at the daily press briefing for the Synod on the Family on Friday. Bishop Tim Thornton of the Anglican Communion is representing the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Patriarch Stephanos of Estonia is representing the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Continue reading Synod on the Family: Press Briefing Day 11
Posted on September 22, 2015
The UN will carry out a review of Ireland in 2016. Read our submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council:
This submission outlines the torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, perpetrated on three generations of women in Ireland by doctors who carried out destructive and non-consensual childbirth operations (‘symphysiotomy’) in the absence of medical necessity; and shows why Ireland’s failure to protect these women then, and to vindicate their rights now, constitutes a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,the UN Convention Against Torture, the European Convention of Human Rights, and the UN General Assembly Body of Basic Principles. Continue reading Survivors of Symphysiotomy Submission to UN Human Rights Council
16 October 2015
Symphysiotomy is a childbirth operation that effectively unhinges the pelvis. Ireland was the only country in the world to do these childbirth operations in preference to Caesarean section. Religious ideology and medical ambition drove the surgery. Continue reading Symphysiotomy in Ireland & the Catholic Church
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. 2 Oct 2015
On the eve of the Vatican synod on marriage and the family, progressive German Cardinal Walter Kasper has come out publicly against doctrinal “fundamentalism” in the Church, while expressing his hope that the synod will open a “dialogue” on contraception for Catholics and reconsider the situation of homosexuals. Continue reading Cardinal Kasper Gears Up: ‘You Are Born Gay’
Every night, France’s chief weatherman has told the nation how much wind, sun or rain they can expect the following day.
Now Philippe Verdier, a household name for his nightly forecasts on France 2, has been taken off air after a more controversial announcement – criticising the world’s top climate change experts.
Continue reading France’s top weatherman sparks storm over book questioning climate change
2015-10-15 Vatican Radio
“The Polish Episcopal Conference does not support the notion of admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to the Eucharist,” said Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki at the daily Synod briefing. Continue reading Synod on the Family: Press Briefing Day 10
2015-10-15 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) ‘Mission impossible’ was how Fr Federico Lombardi on Thursday described the task of trying to sum up the dozens of daily interventions by participants in the Synod of Bishops on the Family, currently coming to the close of its second week in the Vatican’s Synod Hall.
Continue reading Synod: Bishops must welcome families as teachers and pastors
2015-10-15 Vatican Radio
The 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops taking place in the Vatican, Oct. 4-25, is discussing the theme, ”The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”. Continue reading Ishwarlal and Penelope Bajaj of India at Vatican’s synod on family
The language groups have published their second summaries of their discussions about the second part of the Instrumentum laboris. The German group gets decidedly more theological in theirs, as they discuss the false opposition between mercy and truth, grace and justice, graduality, and the practical consequences of understanding sacramental marriage in a historical and biographical way.
In today’s press conference, Cardinal Vincent Nichols recommended the German contribution as the most theologically sound.
This is my translation of the German original that was, once again, composed by Archbishop Heiner Koch:
“We have extensively discussed the concepts of mercy and truth, grace and justice, which are constantly treated as being in opposition to one another, and their theological relationships. In God they are certainly not in opposition: as God is love, justice and mercy come together in Him. The mercy of God is the fundamental truth of revelation, which is not opposed to…
View original post 864 more words
14/10/2015 17:28 (Vatican Radio)
At the daily press briefing for the Synod on the Family an African Cardinal said that polygamy was much more of a problem in Africa than divorce and remarriage. Continue reading Synod on the Family: Press Briefing Day 9
2015-10-14 16:30 (Vatican Radio)
At the Synod on the Family on Wednesday, bishops presented the results of their second round of small group work, dedicated to the second theme of ‘discerning the family vocation’.
Continue reading Synod’s small groups conclude second session on family vocation
2015-10-14 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday said he would take a series of “aggressive steps” to halt a wave of violence in Israeli cities after two attacks in Jerusalem left three Israelis dead. Three Palestinians, including two attackers, were also killed. Continue reading Israeli PM Netanyahu vows response to violence in Jerusalem
13/10/2015 16:55 (Vatican Radio)
On Tuesday the Synod delegates spent the whole day working in “circuli minores,” director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, told the daily press briefing. He also read statements from Cardinals George Pell and Wilfrid Napier. Continue reading Synod on the Family: Press Briefing Day 8
13/10/2015 11:45 (Vatican Radio)
Continue reading Archbishop Coleridge on challenges facing Synod on Family
“I came across a quote from someone who knew him (Pope Francis) in Argentina. ‘Apparently, he loves to be loved by all and please everyone, so one day he could make a speech on TV against abortion, and the next day, on the same television show, bless the pro-abortion feminists in the Plaza de Mayo; He can give a wonderful speech against the Masons and, a few hours later, be dining and drinking with them in the Rotary Club.’ So, how can you make a decision about a man like this, who is everybody’s friend?”
Source: The WILD VOICE
#independentinvestigationkunduz
U.S. is guilty.
This is a WAR CRIME! Continue reading WAR CRIME -MSF Hospital Bombing Kunduz
By Michael O’Loughlin National reporter October 9, 2015
ROME – As bishops wrap up the first week of deliberations about family life, hints are emerging that complex pastoral challenges could ultimately be addressed not with sweeping changes in Rome, but at the local level. Could national bishops’ conferences come up with their own rules about annulments, Communion, and how to minister to gays and lesbians? Maybe. Continue reading Synod bishops may punt the tough issues to the local level
By Inés San Martín, Vatican correspondent October 12, 2015
ROME — An Italian journalist banned from the Vatican press office for publishing the pope’s encyclical on the environment too early has dropped another bombshell: A letter to the pope allegedly signed by 13 cardinals raising concerns about left-wing manipulation of the process at the bishops’ synod. There’s just one problem: Four of the cardinals deny they signed it. And a source says that although such a letter exists, the report of its content isn’t accurate. Continue reading Uncertainty surrounds cardinals’ letter voicing doubts about the synod
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. 12 Oct 2015
On Friday, an unprecedented letter written to Pope Francis by thirteen cardinals taking part in the Vatican synod on marriage and the family was published online, revealing contention regarding the revamped synodal process as well as the suitability of the draft document being used to guide the bishops’ discussions. Continue reading Cardinals’ Letter to Pope Reveals Rift in Vatican Synod
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. 25 Oct 2014
Rome provides a “neutral brokerage” where religious leaders can work together for peace, says Jerry White, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. In an interview with Vatican Radio, White spoke of the need for faith leaders to work harder to prevent religiously motivated violence. Islamic state extremists have brought the question of faith and violence to the fore, and the world religions must be in the forefront of the peace process. Continue reading US Representative in Rome to Push for ‘Global Covenant of World Religions’
But Francis has rejected their requests en bloc. And meanwhile, the “Relatio finalis” has disappeared from the program of the synod
by Sandro Magister
[POST SCRIPTUM]
A spokesperson for Cardinal George Pell said that a private letter should remain private but it seems that there are errors in both the content and the list of signatories. Continue reading Thirteen Cardinals Have Written to the Pope. Here’s the Letter
Edward Pentin’s “The Rigging of a Vatican Synod” is well worth reading. It is subtitled “An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family.” One commentator suggested that Ignatius Press must have insisted on the question mark in the main title and the “alleged” in the subtitle. I’m not sure this is fair. Edward Pentin does present a studiously balanced account, giving quotations and arguments from both sides. The evidence that is presented is clear enough, but it is not forced on the reader. Continue reading Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried but not for those who refuse the Church tax?
The Loud Cry 
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