By Elise Harris
Vatican City, May 9, 2018 / 02:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that nothing can take away a person's baptism or the identity they thereby gain as a child of God, which is why this sacrament cannot be repeated. Baptism is not repeated because it imprints an indelible spiritual sign: This sign is never erased by any sin, though sin prevents baptism from bringing the fruit of salvation,” the pope said during his May 9 general audience. Read Article: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-nothing-can-erase-baptism-thats-why-it-only-happens-once-30729 By Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, May 6, 2018 / 04:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Love is not empty words or what is depicted in romantic films – it is action and service toward others, Pope Francis said in a homily at a Roman parish Sunday. “Love is not what they say in movies... Love is not playing violins, all romantic. No, love is work. Love shows itself in works, not in words,” he said at Santissimo Sacramento parish May 6. Sometimes people might think that love is what they see between a couple in a film, but love is actually found in “always working for others,” Francis said. Read Article: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/love-is-not-just-what-we-see-in-movies---it-takes-work-pope-francis-says-29427 ROME - In an age when technology is ever-evolving, Catholic news organizations must be willing to adapt to effectively proclaim the Gospel to all, Pope Francis said.
Speaking to directors and employees of Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, the pope said that the use of new digital platforms not only requires significant technological updates but also a willingness to accept that “the attachment to the past may prove to be a dangerous temptation.” Read Article: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/05/01/catholic-media-must-not-fall-behind-in-digital-age-pope-says/ Did you know that popes did not begin to live at the Vatican until the 14th century? Explore 10 things you may not know about the seat of the Catholic Church.
1. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. Encircled by a 2-mile border with Italy, Vatican City is an independent city-state that covers just over 100 acres, making it one-eighth the size of New York’s Central Park. Vatican City is governed as an absolute monarchy with the pope at its head. The Vatican mints its own euros, prints its own stamps, issues passports and license plates, operates media outlets and has its own flag and anthem. One government function it lacks: taxation. Museum admission fees, stamp and souvenir sales, and contributions generate the Vatican’s revenue. Read Article: https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vatican How the Catholic World Is Changing
Since Vatican II, Catholicism has experienced a dramatic shift in allegiance by region. Here is a global look at the demographics of the faith since 1965.After the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) ushered in the modern age of Catholicism through reforms in church traditions and teachings, a turning point came in the global demographics of the faith as well. In 1965, the number of Catholics worldwide far exceeded those for all other Christian traditions combined, and there were about six Catholics for every five Muslims, according to figures from the Association of Religion Data Archives. By 2010, the world looked relatively less Catholic. The Catholic population had risen by some 70%, but Islam’s had tripled, and Catholic and non-Catholic Christians claimed a similar number of adherents. Christians overall still outnumbered Muslims, however, and Catholicism remained by far the largest Christian denomination. Read Article: http://graphics.wsj.com/catholics-world/ We live in the most exciting time ever for Earth observation and the complex datasets that are building up, allowing us to trace the processes that characterise Earth systems science through multi year periods and tease out fascinating knowledge about many things that are happening on our beautiful planet that we were previously unaware of. One of these is the movement of ice on the continent of Antarctica, pictured here in mixed data comprising visible light and interferogram (superimposing new InSAR radar data on old to reveal what has changed). Red delineates areas of fast flow, purple slow, brown slowest.
Such data is vital to get a handle on the likely amount of sea level rise as man made global warming picks up the pace, this being one of the greatest risks facing us as we will have to evacuate all the coastal cities world wide over the next couple of centuries (or even earlier if events keep on moving faster than scientists most pessimistic expectations). Understanding the dynamics of ice flow will help us at least constrain what is likely to happen. This data is then plugged into climate models to help improve their accuracy by tying them more closely to what is actually happening on the ground. The project is an international collaboration, combining data from NASA, Canadian, Japanese and European satellites into the final product Read Article: http://the-earth-story.com/post/173023415393/iceflow-we-live-in-the-most-exciting-time-ever By Mary Rezac
Portland, Maine, Apr 15, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The word ‘hermit’ might conjure up some strange images, a la John the Baptist living reclusively in the desert, wearing a hair shirt and eating locusts and honey. The word itself comes from the Greek ‘eremos’, meaning wilderness or an isolated place. The vocation of a hermit became most popular among early Christians, who, inspired by Old Testament saints such as Elijah and John the Baptist, desired to live a life set apart and therefore withdrew into the desert in order to live lives of prayer and penance. But the vocation is still a recognized calling in the Church today, and is about so much more than seemingly-odd ascetic practices and isolation. In the interview below, Brother Rex, a hermit at Little Portion Hermitage in the Diocese of Portland, told Catholic News Agency what it is like to live the eremitic life in the 21st century. Read Article: www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-life-of-a-hermit-a-glimpse-inside-the-little-known-state-of-life-66497 One day inside probably won’t hugely affect your health—but it’s not great to constantly stay cooped up from morning until dark. The biggest issue is that entering hibernation mode means you don’t get any exposure to natural light. Sunlight tends to improve your mood, and it helps your body produce vitamin D, which has been shown to help regulate the immune system, reduce inflammation in the body, and more. Sunlight also helps keep your internal body clock on schedule; your circadian rhythm plays a major part in regulating your appetite, sleep schedule, and energy levels. Research has shown that excessive exposure to electric lighting can throw off those internal rhythms.
Read Article: http://time.com/4692022/staying-inside-mental-health/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter&utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social October has long been the month dedicated to the Rosary. Pope St. Pius V established the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7th) in 1573 to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto, a victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Pope Clement XI expanded the feast to the universal Church in 1716. The dedication of the entire month to this devotion was officially established by Pope Pius XII in 1884. While devotion to this prayer form waned a bit in the years immediately after Vatican II, interest in this long-practiced devotion is experiencing a resurgence as the faithful rediscover the beauty and spiritual benefit of this meditative practice. The name “rosary” comes from the Latin “rosarium” which means “rose garden.” A rosary is widely considered a gift of roses to Our Blessed Mother in heaven.
Read Article: https://catholicexchange.com/a-brief-history-of-the-rosary |
AuthorThaddeus Dzieszko |