Jesuit Refugee Service working with children. Pope Francis praises the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in a letter to mark its 40th anniversary.

It’s been 40 years since the Jesuit Refugee Service began its mission to help the many men, women and children who seek refuge and assistance.

Christian ethos

In a letter to mark four decades of service, Pope Francis recalled its founder, the Servant of God Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ, who, he said, is an example of “this intimately Christian and Ignatian desire to care for the well-being of all those who find themselves in a state of deep despair.”

Father Aruppe, wrote the Pope, transformed his dismay at the plight of the suffering “into a deeply practical attention to their physical, psychological and spiritual well-being.”

JRS past and present

The work of JRS has taken its cue from its Christian ethos, from its beginnings with the Vietnamese boat people in the 1980s up to the present day with the coronavirus pandemic, which has shown how the entire human family is “in the same boat,” finding itself faced with unprecedented economic and social challenges, the Pope said… Read more »

The Faculty of Theology and Għaqda Studenti tat-Teoloġija have published the latest edition of the journal Melita Theologica which is dedicated – in the words of Fr Hector Scerri, the co-editor of this issue – to ‘two magnetic personalities bridging the twentieth and the twenty‑first centuries’, namely, John Paul II and Chiara Lubich.

The latest edition of this peer-reviewed journal, which has been published continuously since 1947, brings together seven original articles from established local and international universities… Read more »

In a statement of the Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin advises that the document be read in its entirety so as not to draw partial conclusions: “We publish the Report with sorrow for the wounds that these events have caused to the victims, their families, the Church in the United States, and the Universal Church”.

At the time of Theodore McCarrick’s appointment as Archbishop of Washington in 2000, the Holy See acted on the basis of partial and incomplete information… Read more »

Dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon!

This Sunday’s Gospel passage (Mt 25:1-13) invites us to prolong the reflection on eternal life that we began on the occasion of the Feast of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. Jesus recounts the parable of the ten virgins invited to a wedding feast, symbol of the Kingdom of heaven… Read more »

Pope Francis is dedicating the month of November to praying “that the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence may always serve humankind.”

In his video message, he explains that “robotics can make a better world possible if it is joined to the common good.” He notes that “if technological progress increases inequalities, it is not true progress.”

Pope Francis emphasizes that technological progress “should be oriented towards respecting the dignity of the person and of Creation.”

COMPLETE TEXT:

Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the epochal change we are experiencing… Read more »

UNESCO’s International Day against Violence and Bullying at School including Cyberbullying is observed on the first Thursday of November. 

The First International Day against Violence and Bullying at School including Cyberbullying is being marked on Thursday.  UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – established the annual day at its 40th General Conference in November 2019, recognizing that bullying in schools and cyberbullying is an infringement of children’s and adolescents’ rights to education and to health and well-being. 

The day will be observed on the first Thursday of November each year… Read more »