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New pope wins over US Catholics

April 3, 2013 15:45
His papacy has hardly begun, but 84 percent of Roman Catholics in the United States have a favorable view of Pope Francis, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday. "Francis is viewed much more favorably by US Catholics than Pope Benedict XVI was during the early days of his pontificate," said Pew's Forum on Religion and Public Life as it released its findings. Some 193 Catholics were among the 1,001 adult Americans that Pew's pollsters contacted by telephone on March 28 to 31, hard on the heels of the new pope's election on March 13.

Pope urges faithful translate Easter sacraments into daily life

April 1, 2013 07:45
Pope Francis urged the faithful to translate the sacraments they received during Easter Sunday into their daily lives as he addressed tens of thousands the day after the holiest day in the Christian calendar. Speaking from a window in the pontifical palace the new pope urged the faithful crowded into St. Peter's Square "to express in life the sacraments that we have received." "It's our daily engagement, but also our daily joy, the joy of feeling the instrument of Christ's grace."

UK poll points to mistrust of clergy, lack of moral leadership

March 31, 2013 10:15
LONDON (Reuters) - Only around a half of Britons trust the clergy to tell the truth and a similar proportion think the Church of England does a bad job of providing moral leadership, a poll showed on Sunday. The survey by pollster YouGov commissioned by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper further showed that 69 percent of respondents thought the Church of England, mother church of the world's 80-million-strong Anglican communion, was out of touch.

AFP 0500 GMT News Advisory

March 30, 2013 02:00
Duty Editor: Laura Mannering Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + North Korea says at war with South + No survivors found in China landslide + Cyprus eases some bank restrictions + Pope to celebrate Easter vigil mass NKorea-SKorea-US-military,3rdlead-WRAP SEOUL North Korea declares it has entered into a "state of war" with South Korea and warns Seoul and Washington that any provocation could swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

Philippines marks Easter with bloody mock crucifixions

March 29, 2013 04:30
Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval. Foreign and local tourists flocked to the outskirts of the city of San Fernando, a 90-minute drive from Manila, to see the annual spectacle where a Christian "passion play" is taken to its blood-soaked extreme. At least 18 men had nails driven through their hands and were hung up on crosses under the hot sun in vacant plots around the city.

Philippines marks Easter with bloody mock crucifixions

March 29, 2013 02:01
Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval. Foreign and local tourists flocked to the outskirts of the city of San Fernando, a 90-minute drive from Manila, to see the annual spectacle where a Christian "passion play" is taken to its blood-soaked extreme.

Pope Francis I leads Mass at Rome's juvenile jail

March 28, 2013 17:31
Vatican City, Mar 28 (EFE).- Pope Francis I went to Rome's Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Thursday to share the Mass of the Lord's Supper with the inmates and during which he washed the feet of 12 teenagers housed there. Several hundred Rome residents awaited the Argentine pontiff upon his arrival at the lockup, where he was received with applause and cries of "Long live the pope." Popes usually preside over the Mass of the Last Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in central Rome.

Pope puts dictatorship victims on path to sainthood

March 28, 2013 11:46
Pope Francis has put 63 people including victims of the Spanish Civil War, Nazism and Communism on the path to sainthood by recognising miracles attributed to them, the Vatican said Thursday. The beatifications are the Argentine pope's first since being elected a fortnight ago and the largest number are considered martyrs of faith killed during the 1931-45 conflict in Spain. The youngest of the group -- who will be regarded as "blessed" in Catholic tradition -- is a 14-year-old Italian seminarian, Rolando Rivi, who was killed by Communist partisan compatriots in 1945.

Indonesian congregation locked out of church for Easter

March 28, 2013 08:17
Local officials in Indonesia have left a Christian congregation with nowhere to pray this Easter, a priest said Thursday, the latest such incident in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation. Authorities in the Jatibening Baru sub-district on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta ordered the congregation to halt services at its church until it obtained a building permit, the Reverend Martua Risman Kurniadi told AFP.

Pope includes women for first time in Holy Thursday rite

March 28, 2013 08:00
By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Two young women were among 12 people whose feet Pope Francis washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison on Holy Thursday, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite. The pope travelled to the Casal del Marmo prison on Rome's outskirts for the traditional Mass, which commemorates Jesus's gesture of humility towards his apostles the night before he died.
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