News from the Church in Malta
Pope Francis has landed in Assisi, the hilltop town in central Italy where Saint Francis was born.
His one day visit to Assisi sees him taking part in the closing of the interreligious World Day of Prayer for Peace, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio. The theme of the 3-day international meeting this year is “Thirst for Peace…
St Paul’s Missionary College, Rabat
19 ta’ Settembru 2016
Jiena nixtieq nagħtikom kelma ta’ merħba, u nsellmilkom individwalment…
Don’t envy the rich and powerful or conspire against your neighbour, but instead nurture the light of faith in your lives. That was Pope Francis’s message in his homily at the Santa Marta Mass on Monday morning.
Reflecting on the reading from St Luke’s Gospel the Pope talked about the many ways in which we hide the light of faith, through jealousy and arguments, by plotting evil against our neighbours or simply by putting off until tomorrow the good that we should do today…
Pope Francis has made two more of his impromptu visits to hospitals and social service centres as part of his regular Friday initiatives during this Year of Mercy. The Pope began by making a surprise visit to the Accident and Emergency department and to the Neonatal unit of Rome’s San Giovanni hospital. After putting on a mask and completing the other health and safety procedures, the Pope stopped beside the incubators of twelve new born babies, five of whom are suffering from severe complications, including one set of twins…
A new collective agreement has been signed between ‘Dar Saura’, a Church residence for the elderly, and the General Workers’ Union (GWU). The agreement, covering the period 2015-2019, was signed by Mr Michael Pace Ross, Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta, and by Ms Rita Dimech, Union Secretary of the Chemicals and Energy section.
The agreement provides for better work conditions for all grades, especially lower grades, including higher salaries backdated to January, shift allowances and service awards in recognition for long service…
Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter motu proprio on Thursday, in which he brings the basic legal instruments that govern the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome more closely into accord with one another in several different specific areas regarding the discipline of the sacraments, and ecclesial identity of the faithful.
The Holy Father has introduced material changes only to the Code of Canon Law that governs the Latin Church, in order to bring the Latin code into harmony with the Eastern code, especially as regards the valid celebration of marriages with spouses of mixed Rite, the circumstances under which a spouse may change Rite, how to determine the Rite to which a child belongs properly, and other questions in a similar vein…
On Wednesday 14th September 2016, Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna delivered a talk on abuse by the clergy and the importance of protecting minors and vulnerable adults, during an early September seminar held in Rome, for bishops newly elected to dioceses in mission lands.
Members of the Pope’s Commission for Child Protection, including an abuse survivor, have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the church about best practices…
During the General Audience, Pope Francis greeted the Bishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, and family members of Fr. Jacques Hamel, the French priest who was murdered by Islamists in July. Earlier on Wednesday morning, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the slain priest.
Pope Francis remembered the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Wednesday, at the end of his weekly General Audience…
Pope Francis on Wednesday morning celebrated Mass for the French priest of Rouen, Fr. Jacques Hamel, whom he described, is part of the chain of Christian martyrs that runs throughout the history of the Church.
Father Hamel was murdered while celebrating Mass in his Parish Church by two men swearing allegiance to the so-called Islamic State in July.
To the congregation gathered at Santa Marta and which included Archbishop Dominque Lebrun of Rouen, along with 80 other pilgrims from the diocese, Pope Francis said that “to kill in the name of God is satanic”…
