News

Working document for synod on youth presented

  • The ‘Instrumentum Laboris’ or the working document of the upcoming Synod of Bishops on youth, scheduled from October 3-28 in the Vatican, has three main sections, namely, recognizing, interpreting and choosing with regard to vocation in life. 

    Presented at a press conference by Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, along with 3 other officials, the 67-page document is the fruit of a long preparatory phase which began with the announcement of the synod by Pope Francis on October  6, 2016…

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Young adults worldwide less religious than older adults, Pew report says

  • A study by the Pew Research Center found that young adults worldwide are generally less religious than older adults by a variety of measures.

    The study, which drew upon previous surveys by Pew, concluded that this was true regardless of the predominant religion in the country, its level of economic development, or its level of religiosity. It defined young people as those under 40 years of age and older people as those 40 or older…

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Pope Francis concludes ecumenical pilgrimage to Geneva

  • Pope Francis flew back to Rome after an “Ecumenical Pilgrimage” to the Swiss city of Geneva. The Pope made his 23rd Apostolic Journey outside Italy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

    The WCC is a worldwide fraternity that comprises 345 different churches and ecclesial communities in more than 100 countries.

    During his one-day visit, the Holy Father spoke at an ecumenical prayer service, and later at an ecumenical meeting, both at the WCC Ecumenical Centre…

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Pope in Geneva: Real ecumenism puts Christ over division

  • Pope Francis landed in Geneva Thursday for a day-trip aimed at bolstering ecumenical relations, saying off the bat that division among Christians is borne from worldliness, and Christ must be prioritized over any differences that might get in the way of unity.  

    In his first official speech after touching down, the pope said Christians are called to walk together along the path of the Spirit, which means “rejecting worldliness” and “opting for a mindset of service and growing in forgiveness.”

    “It means playing our part in history but in God’s good time, not letting ourselves be caught up in the whirlwind of corruption but advancing calmly on the way whose signpost is the one commandment: ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’”

    “We are called, together, to walk along this path,” he said, noting that walking together requires perpetual conversion and “the renewal of our way of thinking so that it can conform to that of the Holy Spirit.”

    It could be said that to walk in this way is to “operate at a loss,” he said, “since it does not adequately protect the interests of individual communities, often closely linked to ethnic identity or split along party lines, whether ‘conservative’ or ‘progressive.’”

    The pope then pointed to St…

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Restoration of the venerable icon of Our Lady of Damascus

    • The venerable icon and panel painting of Our Lady of Damascus, venerated in the Greek Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Damascus, in Valletta, was brought from Rhodes to Malta in 1530 by the Order of Knights Hospitaller of St John in 1530, together with the icon of Our Lady Eleimonitria (the Merciful) and the icon of Our Lady of Philermos…

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Bishops across US condemn separation and detention of migrant children

  • From Denver to New York City, the country’s Catholic bishops have joined a chorus of organisations, institutions and high-profile individuals urging the Trump administration to stop separating children from their parents as they seek respite in the US from dire conditions in their home countries, largely in Central America.

    None have been more outspoken, however, than the bishops with dioceses on or near the border between the US and Mexico, where many migrants, adults as well as children, are being held in detention centres in geographic areas where many of the prelates come into contact with families affected…

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Professional development seminar for the Maltese Ecclesiastical Tribunals

  • In the same spirit of dialogue and accountability that motivated the Maltese Ecclesiastical Tribunals to organise the first inauguration of the Judicial Year last January, the Tribunals of the First and Second Instance of the Maltese Archdiocese recently organised a professional development seminar for all judges, auditors, chancellors and defenders of the bond.

    The seminar that focused on the dialogue between the psychological expert and the judges, was moderated by psychologists Rev…

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Pope at Mass: ‘Forgive, love our enemies’

  • Pope Francis at Mass on Tuesday morning said the mystery of Christian life is loving our enemies and praying for our persecutors.

    He drew inspiration from the day’s Gospel (Mt 5:43-48), in which Jesus invites his followers to a higher standard of human relations, so as to be “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

    The Holy Father said forgiveness, prayer, and love for those who seek to destroy us is the path Jesus has laid out for us…

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