From the 29th June 2008 to 29th June 2009 the Church throughout the world will observe a special Jubilee Year in honour of the Apostle Paul, whose birth is traditionally placed between 7 and 10 A.D. The celebration will be centred at the great Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls in Rome, where St Paul’s relics have been venerated for centuries. The Basilica will welcome thousands of pilgrims during this year… Read more »

Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for October is: “That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist”.

His mission intention is: “That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity”… Read more »

Earlier this week, seven young men started out on the period of formation for the Diocesan Priesthood at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Rabat. These join the other 30 young people who are already undergoing formation towards priestly ordination in its several phases at the institution.

Within this new group of seminarians, two belong to St Sebastian’s parish, Qormi, two come from Mosta whilst three hail from Dingli, Naxxar and Kalkara, their average age being 21 years… Read more »

The Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times (DISCERN) is organising its annual lecture on Tuesday 13th October, 2009 at 7:00p.m. This event will be held at the Phoenicia Hotel, Floriana. This year’s lecture will be addressing the question: ‘Is Secularisation on the Reverse Gear?’ The main speaker will be Professor David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London… Read more »

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Many children raised by cohabitating, separated, divorced or remarried parents are deprived of fixed points of reference and can suffer from inner conflict and confusion, Pope Benedict XVI told Brazilian bishops. The traditional family based on a man and woman united in an indissoluble marriage is under attack in today’s world, he said. “There are forces and voices in present society that seem committed to demolishing the natural homestead of human life,” the pope said during a meeting Sept… Read more »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal next May, Portuguese bishops announced. The pope will preside over ceremonies May 13, the date of the first apparition of Mary to three shepherd children in 1917. No other details of the papal program were immediately available, according to Vatican Radio. The trip is the second papal foreign visit announced for 2010… Read more »