Monthly Archives: April 2011

VATICAN PLANS PARISH SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES

08/04/2011

Committees are needed to promote and defend families at the level of dioceses and parishes, according to representatives of the Vatican and Latin American bishops.

This was a conclusion from the March 29-31 meeting on the pastoral care of families held in Bogota. The president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli and Bishop Jean Laffitte, participated.

A final statement from the meeting recognized the “real emergency” facing families due to “forces that distort and remove them from God’s original plan… Read more »

COMECE: EGYPT, CARD. NAGUIB “COUNTRY RENEWAL AT RISK”

07/04/2011

“Widespread corruption, poverty, social crisis, and suffocating political atmosphere” were the causes for the demonstrations on 25 January according to Card. Antonios Naguib, Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria; those demonstrations originated the “renewal movement” of young people in Tahrir Square, which now “risks being obscured”. Yesterday evening, on speaking to the bishops of COMECE meeting in plenary assembly in Brussels – dedicated to the Churches in Maghreb and the Middle East – the Cardinal warned about the risk that “Muslim Brothers may snatch this renewal from the hands of young Egyptians… Read more »

RETREAT BY THE INTERDIOCESAN COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

07/04/2011

The Interdiocesan Commission for the Environment is organising a retreat for all those interested in spending a time of reflection on the responsibilities of the Catholic person towards the environment.

This retreat will be held at the Laboratory of Peace, Hal-Far. It starts at 9.00 a.m. and ends at 4.00 p.m. All those wishing to attend may contact Ms. Mariella Axisa on 99454411 or send an email to [email protected]

Read more »

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A DEAF-BLIND PRIEST VISITING MALTA – Fr CYRIL AXELROD

06/04/2011

Fr Cyril Axelrod, a world renowned deaf-blind priest will be visiting Malta between the 7th and 16th April, 2011, as the guest of the Deaf Ministry Team within the Diocesan Commission for Disabled Persons.  Father Cyril was the first Catholic priest to be born deaf and later became blind.

In his book And The Journey Begins, Father Cyril recounts how he was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in South Africa and found it very difficult to communicate with those around him, including his parents.  … Read more »

NEW EVANGELIZATION NEEDED TO FIGHT SECULARISM, CARDINAL SAYS

06/04/2011

Cardinal Wuerl

Because materialism, secularism and individualism are “rapidly enveloping our society and culture,” Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl urged Catholics to actively participate in the church’s new evangelization efforts “to proclaim the Gospel anew.”

Cardinal Wuerl said in an address at The Catholic University of America: “This is a time when voices need to be heard that says there is an anchor, there is a basis, a moral foundation to the choices we make.” The “subtle influences” of materialism, secularism and individualism, he added, “need to be cleared away before we can plant the seeds” of faith… Read more »

NEW ECCLESIASTICAL DIRECTORY

05/04/2011

A new edition of the Ecclesiastical Directory for 2011 with over 550 pages of updated information in Maltese and English about the organization, including structures and entities of the Archdiocese of Malta, has just been published.

The Directory includes detailed information about the number of parishioners and families; Masses on Sundays and Feast Days, as well as during the week; processions; the names of the religious associations and movements represented in the various parishes; the number of Baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmations, Marriages and Funerals held in the previous year in every parish; and small churches or chapels where marriages can be celebrated… Read more »

THE ARCHBISHOP VISITS THE CATECHISM CENTRE OF BIRKIRKARA

05/04/2011

On Monday 4th April, 2011, Archbishop Paul Cremona O.P. visited the Catechism Centre of Birkirkara (St. Mary) as part of his pastoral visit in the parish. Later on he then met with the Catechetical Commission of the same parish. The Archbishop then presided over a meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council, the Commission for the Implementation of the Synod and the Parish Economical Council… Read more »

FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE POPE’S VISIT TO MALTA

05/04/2011

On the occasion of the first anniversary of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s Pastoral Visit to Malta, a Eucharistic Celebration will be organized at St John’s Co Cathedral on Sunday 10th April, 2011, at 6pm. This Mass of thanksgiving will be celebrated by Archbishop Paul Cremona OP, the bishops of Malta and the Apostolic Nuncio Tommaso Caputo.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Malta between the 17th and 18th April 2010, on the occasion of the 1950th anniversary of St Paul’s Shipwreck… Read more »