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Several families driven from their homes, houses razed to the ground and land seized: Vietnamese authorities continue to subject Catholics to raids against in Cồn Dầu, Cẩm Lệ district, Da Nang province (south-central Vietnam), at the center of a land ownership controversy. For six years, Hanoi has tried in every possible way to justify its actions with claims that they are motivated by "ecological" needs, although in reality the real goal is the construction of a luxury tourist resort. The faithful try to resist and keep the historical community alive, even if their number is dwindling with the passage of...

In his Kremlin defense of Russia's annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin, even before he began listing the battles where Russian blood had been shed on Crimean soil, spoke of an older deeper bond. Crimea, said Putin, "is the location of ancient Khersones, where Prince Vladimir was baptized. His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilization and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." Russia is a Christian country, Putin was saying. This speech recalls last December's address where the former KGB chief spoke of Russia as standing against a decadent...

SPRINGFIELD, IL, April 3, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, known for his outspoken defense of the right to life and the natural family, has signaled his support for denying Communion to Catholic politicians who publicly endorse activities gravely contrary to the moral law. The bishop wrote recently to a pro-life activist to affirm that he is upholding a diocesan priest’s decision to deny Communion to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, who has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood. Paprocki’s e-mail was reported Thursday by Catholic commentator Matt Abbott. “Senator Durbin was...

Nigeria’s leading prelate has briefed the German Bishops’ Conference on religion and violence in Nigeria, particularly the violence committed by members of the Islamist terrorist movement Boko Haram. “Beyond verbal tirades by some pastors, so far I am not aware of any violent groups claiming Christian inspiration,” said Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja, according to a report by the Catholic News Service of Nigeria. “This seems to me to put a significant responsibility on our Islamic community to do more about ‘reining in their mad dogs,’” he added. “It is not immediately clear how much they are doing in this...

>With a row of Swiss Guards and cameras flickering away, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived to the Vatican. CARD. PIETRO PAROLINSecretary of State"Your majesty welcome”The Queen was about 20 minutes late, but as a true English woman, she was quite conscious of time.    QUEEN ELIZABETH II "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. We were having lunch with the president.”  The meeting lasted about 20 minutes. It marks the first gathering between Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth. First, she introduced her staff...  QUEEN ELIZABETH II"This is my private secretary. From Australia.”  And then gifts were exchanged. The Queen...

Psalm 99:4,5 Jehovah Sits in Majesty in Zion, Supremed Above All Rulers of the Earth. Let them Reverence Your Great and Holy Name. This Mighty King is Determined to Give Justice. Fairness is the Touchstone of Everything He Does. He Gives Justice throughout Israel. Exalt the Lord our Holy God! Bow Low Before His Feet.

The motion was passed by 30 votes to zero, with unionists abstainingCouncillors in Belfast have voted in favour of inviting the Pope to the city. The proposal was backed by Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance, but unionists councillors abstained. Earlier this year, the Irish senate unanimously voted to invite Pope Francis for an official visit. Pope Francis is due to meet the Queen on Thursday, and unionists argued it would be appropriate for her and the government to issue such an invitation. DUP councillor Lee Reynolds said the motion presented by the SDLP "was essentially an election stunt and...

Monsignor Matthew Koo recounted being detained in a Chinese labor camp for thirty years due to his Marian devotion, noting that although the experience was painful there were also many blessings. “Oh, I thought that sacrifice is God's gift. People say that 'you suffered a lot,' I said if not to suffer, how could I be here?” the priest said in a March 17 interview with CNA. Msgr. Koo is originally from Shanghai in mainland China. After entering the seminary in 1953, he was arrested two years later for being an active member of the Legion of Mary – a...

 The following article appeared in the April 2014 edition of The Limbaugh Letter. Reprinted with permission from The Limbaugh Letter, ©2014 Premiere Networks, Inc.For additional information, or to subscribe to The Limbaugh Letter please visit www.thelimbaughletter.comMy Conversation with Bill Donohueby Rush LimbaughA privilege to speak with this religious freedom warrior, president of the Catholic League, a bold presence on television, the author of many books, including Secular Sabotage: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America and Why Catholicism Matters: How Catholic Virtues Can Reshape Society in the 21st Century: Rush: Dr. Donohue, this is great. I have wanted...

Persecuted and Forgotten infographic. Credit: Aid to the Church in Need. Washington D.C., Apr 2, 2014 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has called on President Barack Obama to follow up on his meeting with Pope Francis by backing the creation of a special envoy for religious minorities in the Middle East and south central Asia. “I urge you to put your words into action, lest inaction be perceived as indifference,” Wolf wrote in a March 27 letter to Obama. “The scope of religious persecution around the world, but especially in the Middle East is gravely concerning,...

Tallahassee, Fla. Pastor Dr. R. B. Holmes, whose leadership against hazing and the infamous "stand your ground laws", has announced his candidacy for the presidency of the National Baptist Convention USA., Inc. At a National Press Club announcement last week, Holmes called on the Black church to arise and take back its historic role in fighting social justice issues. "The Black church has become too quiet, too passive, too disconnected when it comes to challenging policies programs and persons that degrade and devastate our people" said Holmes, flanked by dozens of church and community leaders. He also announced the formation...

President Obama gave House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi rosary beads blessed by Pope Francis during lunch Tuesday at the White House, according to an NBC News reporter. Carrie Dann @CarrieNBCNews Pelosi says she received a rosary blessed by Pope Francis from Obama at lunch today 12:24 PM - 1 Apr 2014 Obama met Pope Francis at the Vatican for the first time last week. Pelosi, a Catholic, has been criticized for her support of abortion — a practice which she has called “sacred ground” — by other Catholics. Last year, a Vatican official in Rome said that the California lawmaker...

Damian Thompson of the Telegraph writes that legalized gay marriage, which just arrived in England and Wales, could finally be the thing that breaks the weakened Church of England. He cites a suffragan Anglican bishop saying that even though the Church officially does not accept same-sex marriage, that priests can and will “creatively” defy Church order. Excerpt: How will Archbishop Justin Welby respond? ”I think the church has reacted by fully accepting that it’s the law, and should react on Saturday by continuing to demonstrate in word and action, the love of Christ for every human being,” he told the...

Pope Francis, Obama discuss religious freedom, life issues Francis X. Rocca | Catholic News Service   Stefano Spaziani, pool | CNSU.S. President Barack Obama speaks with Pope Francis during a private audience at the Vatican March 27.     VATICAN CITY -- In their first encounter, Pope Francis received U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27 for a discussion that touched on several areas of tension between the Catholic Church and the White House, including religious freedom and medical ethics. During an extraordinarily long 50-minute meeting, the two leaders discussed "questions of particular relevance for the church...

Days after discussing the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fight over contraception with President Obama, Pope Francis met Monday (March 31) with members of the Green family, the Oklahoma billionaires whose company, Hobby Lobby, took their challenge to Obama’s contraception mandate to the Supreme Court last week. The pope met with Obama on Thursday for the first time, touching on some hot-button disputes between the White House and U.S. Catholic bishops. A Vatican statement after the meeting said that the two men talked about issues including “the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection,” a veiled reference to...

Cardinal Donald Wuerl has been the most outspoken of those bishops who refuse to obey Canon 915, but all of them are on record, as he is, as endorsing the commission of MORTAL SINS by their priests and other ministers of Communion. Cardinal Wuerl has even punished those who have obeyed Canon 915.

Moscow, March 28, Interfax – Russia has a special calling in the world, and the country has to prove it both to Russians and foreigners, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said. I think we have a chance to say the word of God’s truth in the context of all this struggle of ideas. In various fields," the priest said in his interview to the Zavtra paper speaking to its editor-in-chief, famous wrighter Alexander Prokhanov. According to Father Vsevolod, in the economical field we have to say that money-lending is "a sinful thing...

Judges are stepping in where they have no jurisdiction, no constitutional backing, no understanding of the limits of the federal government in relation to the states, and almost no knowledge of American history. “A Carroll County [Maryland] commissioner said she was ‘willing to go to jail’ opening up a board meeting with a prayer despite a federal judge in Maryland ruling the board has to stop with opening meetings with prayers that reference Jesus Christ or any specific deity. “‘If we cease to believe that our rights come from God, we cease to be America,’ (video) ‘We’ve been told to...

"It is a shame that the people no longer have hope in this government": This is what was expressed by the president of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB), Mgr. Oscar Aparicio, in his opening speech at the assembly of the Bishops of Bolivia. The note sent to Fides reports what the Bishop said: "Because of social decline and corruption, society, the press, authorities, justice and the Church cannot remain silent. We must do everything in our power to make the truth shine, because as the Evangelist John says, the truth shall make you free". In his message (see Fides 27/03/2014)...

“While the promises of the false prophets of this earth melt away in blood and tears, the great apocalyptic prophecy of the Redeemer shines forth in heavenly splendor: ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” – Divini Redemptoris (On Atheistic Communism) When Saigon fell to the Viet Cong on April 30, 1975, the Vietnam War ended, and a typically Communist, systematic program of depopulation, re-education, and redistribution of wealth ensued. In the next two years, a million people left the city for the countryside – or for farther shores.I had been born nine months earlier in a Saigon hospital. By April,...