How the Berlin Wall fell thanks to Vatican II

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/19/2014 - 13:29

On Nov. 21, 1964, Pope Paul VI solemnly promulgated the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which began by proclaiming Christ the “light of the nations” and is thus known as Lumen Gentium. Twenty-five years later, on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1989, the Berlin Wall was breached and the communist project in Europe collapsed, reduced to rubble like the masonry that divided Germany for decades. Fifty years after Lumen Gentium and 25 years after the Revolution of 1989, we can see more clearly that the Council had something to do with the communist crack-up.

“Christians have a right to profess their faith freely”

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/13/2014 - 17:09

At the Pope Francis' General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, November 12, he sent out an appeal for persecuted Christians. He stressed that bishops, priests and deacons must not be authoritarian and can learn something from those who are far from the faith. The Pope condemned drug trafficking remembering the 43 Mexican students who were burnt alive.

Minority communities wonder why Iraqi government fails to protect them

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:56

Two months after 3-year-old Christina Khider Abada was snatched by Islamic State militants from a bus as her family helplessly watched, Ayda Abada wonders about the fate of her daughter.

Now sheltering in an unfinished building in the Christian enclave of Ainkawa outside of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq, Abada replays the scene over and over in her mind.

Christians are disappearing in the Middle East

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/09/2014 - 23:01

On August 22, 1939, Adolf Hitler, explaining his decision to invade Poland, asked, "Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

On the centennial of the massacre of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, it is pertinent to ask, sixty-five years later, if the world is sufficiently aware of the persecutions of Christians, discrimination against them, the lack of respect shown for freedom of religion, and indeed the possible end of Christianity in the Arab and Muslim countries of the Middle East.

Pope appoints Gallagher as secretary for relations with states, replaces Burke with Mamberti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/09/2014 - 11:10

Pope appoints Archbishop Paul Gallagher, first ever Englishman as “Foreign Minister”, names Archbishop Dominque Mamberti to replace Cardinal Raymond Burke as “Chief Justice”

In a series of top level changes in the Roman Curia, Pope Francis has appointed the English-born Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher as Secretary for Relations with States – the third highest position in the Vatican.

Fr. Bader: “King’s Speech from the Throne entrenches Christian-Muslim Relations”

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/09/2014 - 10:31

Fr. Rif’at Bader, director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Amman, has said that His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein’s Speech from the Throne brought to the light several important issues, and reinforced the Kingdom’s historical and religious status which has been prevalent for several decades.

Jerusalem’s Churches: “Esplanade blitzes must stop”

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/08/2014 - 11:58

Rome
Leaders of Christian Churches in Jerusalem are watching with great concern as the events currently taking place in the Esplanade of the Mosques unfold. And they are calling all parties to respect the status quo, the understanding reached back in the days of the Ottoman Empire, which regulates relations between the various religious groups present in the area and protects the Holy Sites of all religions within the city.