Sayed Wardak, 32, spent five years as a translator for the US Army in Afghanistan. In 2016, after nearly a year of hiding from the Taliban and in fear for his life, Mr Wardak and his wife, Sairah, immigrated to the United States. Knowing first-hand the perils of life in Afghanistan, and the challenges of…
The Missionaries of Charity congregation has been forced to shut Nirmala Shishu Bhawan, a home for orphaned, destitute and abandoned children in Uttar Pradesh state, after its lease expired. The Defence Estates Office demanded $250,000 from the nuns for trespassing. The closure came on the heels of the federal government’s refusal to renew the congregation’s…
Staff reporter A Catholic nurse suffered harassment and discrimination because she refused to remove a small gold cross necklace at work, an employment tribunal ruled. Mary Onuoha, 61, was subjected to “offensive and intimidating” treatment by the National Health Service, her employer, and was unfairly dismissed from her job at the Croydon University Hospital in…
A ransom was paid for the missionaries held hostage in Haiti, said the husband and father of six of the now-released hostages. “There had been a ransom agreement reached with the hostage takers,” said Ray Noecker, whose wife and five children were among the 17 people kidnapped by a Haitian gang on October 16. Mr…
Pope sends Christmas greetings to Oriental Churches With Eastern rite Catholics and Orthodox Faithful celebrating Christmas on January 7, Pope Francis sent his best wishes for “peace and every joy”. Greeting the Faithful after the prayer of the Angelus last Thursday, Pope Francis sent his greetings to Orthodox Christians and Eastern rite Catholics who celebrated…
Unvaccinated Catholics asked not to attend Mass by English parish A parish in England has asked Catholics not to attend Mass if they are “not vaccinated and/or won’t wear a mask”. The Parish of the Holy Family, East Nottingham, in central England, issued the request most recently in a newsletter dated December 26. Under the heading “Keeping safe,”…
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that it is a civilisational loss when dogs and cats replace children in society, encouraging couples to “take the risk” to become parents. “The other day, I was talking about the demographic winter that we have today … many couples do not have children because they do not want to,…
Since Christmas, the Missionaries of Charity have been strictly rationing the food and daily use items for their regular 600 beneficiaries at their motherhouse and Shishu Bhavan, a children’s orphanage. On January 2, the breakfast of tea, bread, and eggs was cut short by an hour. “As long as you did it to one of…
Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul I on September 4, at the Vatican, according to Stefania Falasca, a journalist and vice postulator of the late Pope’s sainthood cause. Last autumn, Pope Francis had signed a decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul I, clearing the way for his beatification.…
Priest who led child protection charged in abuse case A retired priest of the US Diocese of Arlington, who for seven years oversaw the diocese’s programme on protecting minors from clerical sexual abuse, was indicted shortly before Christmas on two counts of sexually abusing a minor. A trial is scheduled next October for Fr Terry…