News

11/01/2019

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Catholics in US express frustration over border security stalemate

10/01/2019

The US-Mexico border in Arizona. Credit: Chess Ocampo/Shutterstock.
On Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump highlighted humanitarian problems present along the US-Mexico border and issued a call for increased security, including the construction of additional barriers on the border. His remarks were met with mixed reactions and frustration from Catholics across the United States…

10/01/2019

COMECE welcomes the solution reached today among some EU member states, with the intervention of the EU, that have accepted to receive some migrants who were for days stranded at sea, rescued and brought to a Maltese harbour.

The deep concern expressed by the Bishops’ Conference from Malta with regards to the situation of these migrants is shared by COMECE: we can’t remain “deaf to the cry of those suffer” as “we are called to make compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of conduct in our relationships with one another.”

However, the efforts made by the Catholic Church and civil society in welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants can’t substitute governments’ responsibility to ensure that newcomers are rescued when stranded at sea, brought to a safe place, treated in a humane way and provided with the necessary assistance…

09/01/2019

We are appalled beyond words that, after 18 days of negotiations, 49 men, women and children remain stuck on a boat within sight of the Maltese shore. In spite of countless calls for solidarity, European Member States have not managed to find a diplomatic solution to the current impasse.

This is nothing short of tragic and shameful…

08/01/2019

It’s been 137 years since Friedrich Nietzsche has published his book The Gay Science or The Joyful Wisdom wherein he first declared that “God is Dead”, an idea which he repeated a few years later in his philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. How could Nietzsche declare the death of someone in whose existence he never believed? …

08/01/2019

Pope Francis says that those who care for the sick and give of themselves with generosity and straightforward love – like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta – are amongst the Church’s most credible evangelizers.

In his message for the World Day of the Sick, celebrated on 11 February, the Pope focused on Jesus’s words to the Apostles: “You received without payment; give without payment” (Mt 10:8)…

08/01/2019

This Friday, 11th January 2019, the restoration and conservation work which was carried out on three historic paintings at the Archbishop’s Curia will be inaugrated. The three eighteenth-century paintings portray the images of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Rosary with Dominican saints, and the Eternal Father.

Dr Theresa Vella, an art historian, will give a critical appreciation of the paintings, while the painting conservators, Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani of Atelier del Restauro, will give a presentation of the restoration work done during the past year…

07/01/2019

Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna has appointed Mr Roberto Buontempo as property manager designate with effect from today, 7th January 2019, reporting to the Administrative Secretary, Mr Michael Pace Ross. Mr Buontempo will formally take over from the outgoing property manager, Mr Ray Bonnici, 66, following a hand-over period.

Mr Buontempo occupied top management positions within the private sector and also held the post of director on a number of boards, both in Malta and overseas. He was also involved in various projects with one of the leading property developers on the island. A graduate in management and business administration, he is also a Chartered Manager and holds professional fellowships with the Chartered Management Institute, the Institute of Supply Chain Management and the Royal Society of Arts. For a number of years, he was a council member of the Malta Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce. Mr Buontempo is also the Lieutenant of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Lieutenancy of Malta…

07/01/2019

Jesus reveals himself to all the nations in a gentle light that shines in humble love.

Pope Francis made that remark in his homily on Sunday, as he reflected on the Epiphany of the Lord. “Epiphany”, he noted, indicates the manifestation of the Lord. “The symbol of this event is light, which reaches and enlightens everything.”

He said the manner in which God revealed Himself is surprising…

06/01/2019

Germany-flagged rescue vessel “Professor Albrecht Penck” sails off the Maltese coast
Two humanitarian ships picked up the migrants as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The rescue boats belong to the German NGOs Sea-Watch and Sea Eye. They are seeking a port in Europe to disembark their 49 passengers…