News

Vatican changes teaching to oppose death penalty in all cases

02/08/2018

  • Pope Francis has approved a new revision of paragraph number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, according to which “a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state,”  thus “the death penalty is inadmissible”:

    The decision was announced by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a ‘Letter to the Bishops’ dated 1 August and signed by the Prefect, Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria…

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Pope to altar servers: Give God glory in everything!

02/08/2018

  • Pope Francis used the reading from 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 during a homily he addressed to over 70,000 altar servers gathered in St Peter’s Square for an Extraordinary Audience. These altar servers between the ages of 13 and 23 come from 19 different countries and are participating in the 12th International Pilgrimage for Altar Boys and Girls.

    Do everything for God’s glory

    Giving God glory in everything (see 1 Cor 10:31) “sums up what it means to be a friend of Jesus”, Pope Francis began…

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Auxiliary Bishop-elect meets Maltese missionaries

02/08/2018

  • L-Isqof Awżiljarju Elett, Mons. Joseph Galea-Curmi, ltaqa’ ma’ missjunarji Maltin imxerrda mad-dinja u li bħalissa jinsabu Malta għal btala. Għal-laqgha li saret f’Dar l-Emigrant, il-Belt Valletta, attendew saċerdoti Maltin li qed jagħmlu ħidma missjunarja fl-Awstralja u fil-Pakistan, u sorijiet li qegħdin f’Gaża, il-Brażil, il-Pakistan, l-Ukrajna u l-Indja. Attendew ukoll soċi tal-M.U.S.E.U.M. missjunarji f’Kuba, Londra u l-Albanija.

    Fil-messaġġ tiegħu, Mons…

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What is the difference between a cathedral, a basilica and a shrine?

01/08/2018

  • Every diocese in the Catholic world has a cathedral it is the chief church of the diocese, the bishop’s church. It is not uncommon to hear someone refer mistakenly to an especially large or magnificent church as a cathedral. But it isn’t size or décor that matters, its the bishop. That said, there is one physical feature that sets a cathedral apart from all the other churches in the diocese: the bishop’s throne, which is usually set on a raised platform within the sanctuary…

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Launch of Catholic Voices Malta

31/07/2018

  • Following the training of over 25 lay persons Catholic Voices Malta joins the Catholic Voices international team, a network of 21 countries spread all over the world.

    The group, concluded a training program supported by Catholic Voices UK and includes lawyers, home-makers, members of the medical profession, educators, entrepreneurs, a social worker, an architect and a psychologist amongst others…

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Learning to ‘love your enemy’ in a Soviet labour camp

31/07/2018

  • “I can honestly say that the labor camp was the best place to understand what ‘love your enemy’ really means,” said Myroslav Marynovych, a Ukrainian Catholic who spent seven years in a Soviet gulag in the Perm region of Russia.

    After receiving the 2018 Charles J. Chaput Award at the Napa Institute conference this month, Marynoych explained to CNA how the gospel came to life for him in the gulag, and how a stint in solitary confinement led him to write a letter to St…

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Programme of the episcopal ordination of Mgr Joseph Galea-Curmi

31/07/2018

  • Friday, 3rd August 2018 – Prayer vigil at the parish church of Saint Joseph the Worker, Birkirkara

    7:30 p.m.        Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna leads a prayer vigil in preparation for the Episcopal Ordination of the new Auxiliary Bishop of Malta. During the vigil, Mgr Joseph Galea‑Curmi recites the profession of faith and takes the oath of fidelity…

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Remembering Fr Jacques Hamel on the anniversary of his killing

27/07/2018

  • Fr Jacques Hamel was murdered by extremist Islamic militants two years ago to this day in his parish in northern France while celebrating Holy Mass.

    Pope Francis has held up his testimony of faith also as a reminder of all the other Christian martyrs whose blood is shed across today’s world.

    It was during Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, celebrated together with the Bishop of Rouen and father Jacques Hamel’s family, that Pope Francis described the slain French parish priest as “a gentle, good man, who fostered brotherhood”…

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300 young people participating in Kamp Sajf 2018

26/07/2018

  • Għal darb’oħra din is-sena, numru ta’ leaders fiż-ŻAK reġgħu ħadu ħsieb jorganizzaw il-Kamp Sajf. Il-preparazzjonijiet għall-Kamp Sajf ilhom li bdew. Sar ukoll weekend ta’ preparazzjoni ġewwa ż-ŻAK House Birkirkara bejn is-6 u t-8 ta’ Lulju. Matul dan il-weekend, madwar 50 leader kienu preżenti sabiex din l-attività daqshekk kbira tkun ta’ suċċess u li sservi ta’ ġid għal kull min jipparteċipa…

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Priest in Gaza: ‘people living in fear of a new war’

26/07/2018

  • The United Nations Mideast envoy has warned that  Israel and Hamas were “minutes away” from another “devastating confrontation” in Gaza on Saturday.

    He revealed on Tuesday that the clash was averted after U.N. and Egyptian diplomatic efforts got both sides to “step back from the brink.”

    Sounding the alarm, Nikolay Mladenov said that crucial work is required to change the current deteriorating dynamics that, he noted, could lead to the fourth war in a decade between Hamas and Israel…

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