Holy Communion is exclusively for Catholics in a state of grace and not something to be shared between friends like beer or cake, said a former senior adviser to two popes. Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze said any moves to give greater access to Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics and to non-Catholic spouses of Catholics represented “serious” challenges to the teaching of the Church on the Eucharist. In an interview with Catholic News Service, he implicitly objected to interpretations of Pope Francis’s 2016 apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” that would permit…
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PAINFUL!!! A CATHOLIC PRIEST CONTACTS EBOLA DISEASE
The Ebola disease which had sent many Africans to their untimely grave has also been diagnosed again in some patients in Congo. According to a World Health Organization count, 58 cases have been identified since early April. Many people have already been quarantined, including Rev Fr. Lucien Ambunga from the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He contacted the virus while visiting and anointing the sick. Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and is both highly infectious and extremely lethal. Yet, among the duties of a…
Read MoreMourners line streets of Liverpool for Alfie Evans funeral
Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Liverpool to pay tribute to Alfie Evans on the day of the toddler’s funeral. The 23-month-old boy, who suffered a severe degenerative neurological condition, died on April 28, some 10 days after his father, Tom Evans, had asked Pope Francis to help get him to Rome for treatment. The family insisted on a private burial in Liverpool on May 14, but well-wishers lined the route and applauded and threw flowers when the hearse carrying the child’s coffin, decorated with a blue heart and…
Read MoreNigerian Catholic Bishops call for nationwide protest over Herdsmen killings
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has fixed May 22 for a nationwide protest by Catholic faithful over killings by herdsmen across the country. The CBCN said the protests would coincide with the burial of the two priests and 17 parishioners killed by herdsmen during morning mass at Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State. A statement circulated on Sunday via the church’s bulletin, titled: “Peaceful Demonstration,” read: “The CBCN has directed that every Diocese in Nigeria should organise a peaceful demonstration/ rally against the barbaric but intolerable…
Read MorePope prays for people of Central African Republic
Following the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis invited everyone to pray for the people of the Central African Republic, a country which, he recalled, he has had “the joy of visiting.” The Holy Father travelled to the country in November 2015, as part of his first pastoral visit to Africa. In his remarks on Sunday, Pope Francis noted that the Central African Republic has in recent days experienced “serious violence” that has seen many people killed or wounded, including a priest. “May the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary,…
Read MoreDon’t seek revenge for church massacre, urges cardinal
A cardinal in the Central African Republic has urged his flock not to seek revenge after a priest and at least 24 lay Catholics were killed during a gun and grenade attack on a Mass in the country’s capital. “For decades now, what have we done with our country: coups d’etat, mutinies, repeated rebellions?” said Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, president of the bishops’ conference. “We see the result in deaths, scenes of pillage and acts of destruction. But behind these events, I ask myself if there’s also manipulation and instrumentalisation, a…
Read MoreDon’t seek revenge for church massacre, urges cardinal
A cardinal in the Central African Republic has urged his flock not to seek revenge after a priest and at least 24 lay Catholics were killed during a gun and grenade attack on a Mass in the country’s capital. “For decades now, what have we done with our country: coups d’etat, mutinies, repeated rebellions?” said Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, president of the bishops’ conference. “We see the result in deaths, scenes of pillage and acts of destruction. But behind these events, I ask myself if there’s also manipulation and instrumentalisation, a…
Read MorePope Francis: The crucifix is for prayer, not decoration
On Sunday Pope Francis said that the crucifix is not just something decorative to hang on the wall or wear, it is an important sign of our beliefs – and should be truly looked at and prayed before as the source of our salvation. “Today’s Gospel invites us to turn our gaze to the crucifix, which is not an ornamental object or clothing accessory – sometimes abused! – but a religious sign to be contemplated and understood,” the Pope said March 18. “The image of Jesus crucified reveals the mystery…
Read MoreNigerian Catholic Priest Who Resigned gets married (PHOTOS)
Rev. Patrick Henry Edet, who resigned months ago from Priesthood is set to walk down the aisle March 17, 2018. Meanwhile, he has tied the knot traditionally with his beautiful wife. l Mr. Edet has been running his own church, the Grace Family, since he left the Catholic fold in July 2017 He broke the news about his planned wedding in the church on Tuesday. Last year, Edet had stated that the resignation marked the beginning of ‘freedom’ for his spirit and soul. Edet said after 11 long years, he…
Read MorePope to ordain 3 bishops on feast of St. Joseph
On Monday 19 March 2018, Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at 17.00 in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father Francis will celebrate Holy Mass during which he will confer episcopal ordination to the Presbyters: Msgr. WALDEMAR STANISŁAW SOMMERTAG, of the clergy of the diocese of Pelplin, Poland, born on 6 February 1968 in Więcbork, Poland, ordained a priest on 30 May 1993, elected titular archbishop of Maastricht and appointed as apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua on 15 February 2018; Msgr. ALFRED XUEREB of the clergy of…
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