Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, called the Easter attack in Lahore, Pakistan, an act of “cowardly murderous hatred” perpetrated on the “most defenseless,” adding it “casts a shadow of sadness and anguish on the feast of Easter.”

Over 70 people were killed by a bomb at a public park where families belonging to the country’s small Christian minority had gathered to celebrate the Easter holiday. The  Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and vowed more would follow.

“With the Pope … we pray for the victims, we are close to the wounded, to the affected families, to their immense pain, to the members of Christian minority who once again have been hit by fanatical violence, and to the entire wounded Pakistani people,” Father Lombardi said.

“As the Pope stated Easter morning, despite the continuation of these horrible manifestations of hatred, the crucified and risen Lord continues to give us the courage and hope needed to build paths of compassion, and solidarity, and with those who suffer, paths of dialogue, justice, reconciliation and peace,” concluded the Vatican spokesman.

Full Article

Irondale, Ala., Mar 28, 2016 / 03:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- If you picture a nun's first profession of vows, you probably picture a serene, peaceful affair with the sisters singing harmoniously and everything running joyfully and smoothly.

But the day of Mother Angelica's first vows was anything but.

Outside, a blizzard spit snow and ice, snarling roads and delaying the guests and the presiding Bishop James McFadden.

Inside, different storms were brewing.

As then-Sister Angelica knelt behind the grille, trying to pray before taking her vows, the organist sister and the choir director, Sr. Mary of the Cross (with whom Sr. Angelica had sparred in the past), began arguing about musical technique, within earshot of the already-arrived guests.

As the incident is recalled in her biography:

Voices slowly escalated. Suddenly the two nuns were at each other: the organist refusing to play, Mary of the Cross threatening to throw her into the snow if she didn’t.

“And I’m sitting there trying to re-collect myself for my vows,” Mother Angelica recalled. “The people must have thought we were nuts.”

Then came the bug, scampering across the wooden floor in front of the sisters.

Mary of the Cross rose up, lifted the kneeler with both hands, and pounded it on the ground, attempting to annihilate the insect. Like a madwoman with a jackhammer, she repeatedly wielded the priedieu (kneeler), hurling it and herself at the crawler. The organist, thinking the display an underhanded critique of her playing, pounded the keys all the harder. Sister Angelica could not believe what she termed “the shenanigans.” Then the bishop walked in.

Wet and cold from walking several blocks where he had to leave his stalled car, Bishop McFadden requested a fresh pair of socks, which Sr. Mary of the Cross sent Sister Angelica to get.

When it came time to place the profession ring on Sr. Angelica’s fingers, the bishop couldn’t fit it past her knuckle – her hand was swollen from a shower handle in the convent that had crumbled and cut her hand several days prior.

“With everything going on there, I’m thinking, Oh Jesus doesn’t love me. You know?...I mean, it was a real spiritual experience!” Mother Angelica said. “But that’s the way God works with me. As I look back, before anything big that was coming, something happened to me.”

Despite “the shenanigans” of the day, Sr. Angelica took her vows seriously, writing in a letter to her mother that “the espoused” and “royal couple” (herself and Jesus) “wished to express their gratitude to their friend and member of their personal court...The spouse has asked the Bridegroom to fill you with his peace and consolation.”

She signed the letter: “Jesus and Angelica.”

Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), passed away on March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.

Full Article

Vatican City, Mar 28, 2016 / 04:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Monday mourned the loss of life in Pakistan, where more than 70 people – mostly women and children -- were killed Sunday after a suicide attack on Christians who were celebrating Easter at a public park.

Speaking during his Regina Caeli address for Easter Monday, the Pope expressed his “closeness to those affected by this cowardly and senseless crime,” and called those present to to pray for the victims and their loved ones.

“Easter was bloodied by an execrable attack which massacred many innocent people, mostly families of the Christian minority - particularly women and children - who had gathered in a public park to spend the Easter holiday in joy,” he said.

The attack took place in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. At least 29 of the dozens of people killed were children, Reuters reports. The BBC reports that at least 300 people were injured, and officials expect the death toll to rise.

The explosion struck the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal amusement park in the early evening, a short distance the children's playground and a section designated for women.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Taliban splinter group in Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack, the BBC reports.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by a single suicide bomber.

Pope Francis went on to appeal to civil authorities and “all social components of the Nation” in order to restore “security and serenity to the population,” especially for religious minorities.

“I repeat once again that violence and murderous hatred only lead to pain and destruction; respect and fraternity are the only path to achieving peace,” he said.

“The Passover of the Lord arouses in us, in an ever stronger way, the prayer to God so that the hands of the violent, which sow terror and death, are stopped, and that love, justice and reconciliation may reign in the world.”

The March 27 bombing is the bloodiest attack on Christians in Pakistan since the 2013 church bombing in Peshawar where over 80 people were killed.

Earlier in his Regina Caeli address, Pope Francis reflected how the Jubilee Year of Mercy is an opportunity to rediscover the comfort and hope which comes from the announcement of Christ's resurrection.

“If Christ is risen, we can look with new eyes and hearts at every event of our lives, even to the most negative,” he said.

“The moments of darkness, of failure and sin can be transformed and announce a new journey. When we have reached the bottom of our misery and our weakness, Risen Christ gives us the strength to get up.”

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article