Pope with Gabriele in prison

Holy See Press Office director, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., informed journalists: “The Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison in order to confirm his forgiveness and to inform him personally of his acceptance of Mr Gabriele’s request for pardon, thereby remitting the sentence passed against the latter. This constitutes a paternal gesture towards a person with whom the Pope shared a relationship of daily familiarity for many years… Read more »

Nhar il-Ġimgħa 21 ta’ Diċembru 2012, l-Arċisqof Pawlu Cremona O.P., l-Isqof Awżiljarju Charles J. Scicluna u l-Isqof Emeritus Ġużeppi Mercieca awguraw Milied ħieni lil impjegati tal-Kurja, tal-Caritas u tat-Tribunal Ekklezjastiku, filwaqt li apprezzaw il-ħidma fejjieda li dawn iwettqu tul is-sena kollha.

Ritratti: Uffiċċju Komunikazzjoni Read more »

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On the occasion of Christmas and the start of the New Year, Archbishop Paul Cremona O.P. the Auxiliary Bishop Charles J. Scicluna and Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca will receive members of the general public who wish to convey their good wishes for the season, on Sunday 30th December between 9.30am and noon.

This year too, the exchange of greetings will take place at the Archbishop’s Curia in Floriana, which is easily accessible for persons with disability… Read more »

On Tuesday 18 December 2012, Auxiliary Bishop Mgr Charles Scicluna inaugurated an art exhibition at the Mdina Cathedral Museum. Over seventy local and foreign artists have donated one or more pieces of art to be auctioned off on New Year’s Day during the Festa ta’ Generozita’ organized by RTK 4 Charity.

The Exhibition will be open between the 19 and 27 December and is open Monday to Friday (excluding Christmas Day) between 9.30am and 4.30pm and on Saturday between 9.30am and 3.30pm… Read more »

Pope's account on Twitter

Pope Benedict XVI’s Twitter account, @Pontifex, has surpassed two million followers since the account was opened two weeks ago. The first Papal tweets were sent out in eight languages moments after his General Audience last Wednesday.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said that the Holy Father wanted to be present in the latest platforms of communication to share with them “words of truth.”

Despite the 140 character limit for tweets, Archbishop Celli reiterated the statement he made at the press conference announcing the new account, stressing that it “is not so much the number of characters available but the depth of the words he uses.”

The Archbishop told Vatican Radio that we could all stand to re-learn how to communicate using words “that always have a profound significance for others.” Archbishop Celli also noted that with the more than 140 million people actively on Twitter, 40% of them between the ages of 18-34, the social micro-blogging site would give the Holy Father an opportunity to dialogue with them… Read more »

On Monday 17th December 2012, Auxiliary Bishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna celebrated the Christmas Mass at San Ġorġ Preca College, Maria Assumpta Girls Secondary school in Ħamrun.

This was the Bishop’s first pastoral visit in a school.

The bishop was given a cake from the Home Economics class student and a hand-crafted memento by the Art and Lace class students… Read more »

On Tuesday 18th December 2012, Archbishop Paul Cremona celebrated Christmas Mass for children attending State schools, at St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta.

Click on the photos to enlarge. The photos of the Archbishop’s events may be purchased from PHOTOCITY, Valletta… Read more »

Pope with Palestinian President

In the Vatican Apostolic Palace Pope Benedict XVI received in audience Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.
In a press release, the Holy See’s Press Office said “the cordial discussions made reference to the recent Resolution approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations by which Palestine was recognised as a Non-member Observer State of the aforementioned Organisation… Read more »

The activity that is held annually to raise funds for id-Dar tal-Providenza will this year be called Festa ta’ Ġenerożita’ (Feast of Generosity). This was announced by Fr Martin Micallef, Director of the Home who said: “We’re doing this because on January 1st all Maltese and Gozitans alike will begin the new year by showing who and what they really are: a generous nation, a nation that can indeed practice solidarity.”

Fr Martin mentioned four main reasons for this feast of generosity towards id-Dar tal-Providenza… Read more »