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Pope Benedict XVI (L) and Cuba's President Raul Castro shake hands after a mass at Revolution Square in Havana March 28, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI met with Cuban President Raul Castro, on Tuesday, in a private encounter that lasted for over 40 minutes. Papal spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, described as very cordial and constructive. Though we don’t know the details of their conversation, Fr Lombardi said the Pope reiterated concerns he has spoken about in public regarding the freedom of the Church to contribute more fully to the life and well being of all people here. One specific request...

An estimated 300 thousand Cuban faithful filled Havana’s Revolution Square for an open air Mass presided over by Pope Benedict XVI on the final day of his visit to the Americas. Philippa Hitchen was among them and sends us this report:On a trip to the Cuban capital a few years back, the granddaughter of author Ernest Hemingway was heard to remark that Cuba has three icons: Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and her grandfather. Certainly the American author and journalist is still revered around here with hotels, bars and restaurants named after him and his medal for the 1954 Nobel...

HAVANA (AP) — In a sermon at the Cathedral in Havana, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski called for Cuba to move away from the "spent ideology" of Marxism without embracing the materialism of the West. Wenski spoke Tuesday to a packed audience of more than 300 mostly Cuban-American pilgrims, and they gave him a sustained standing ovation. Many in the audience left Cuba as young children or are the sons and daughters of exiles. The Mass was part of a special service in honor of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the island. Delivering his sermon in Spanish, Wenski called for "soft...

Moscow, March 28, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church is actively putting forward the idea of including mobile inflatable churches in the Airborne Forces' combat inventory. "Such churches are so far not part of the combat inventory, but the Church is putting forward this idea. If churches become part of the inventory, they could be dropped from planes along with self-propelled guns and infantry fighting vehicles," Col. Alexander Kucherenko, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman for the Airborne Forces, told Interfax. There is only one position for a military chaplain in the Airborne Forces, which is an aide to the brigade...

What do we really know? What do we really see? Every day are we truly trying to be Christ-like, or at least treat people how we want to be treated? Love to all people in the holy precious name of Jesus Christ.

‘Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb’ approved by RomeWASHINGTON (March 26, 2012) -- The Vatican has approved the publication of the "Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb," which will be printed in English and Spanish in a combined booklet and should be available for parishes by Mothers' Day. The U.S. bishops who collaborated on the development of the blessing welcomed the announcement of the recognitio, or approval, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome. "I'm impressed with the beauty of this blessing for human life...

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond. Washington D.C., Mar 27, 2012 / 06:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops are encouraging parishes to incorporate into their communities a new blessing for a child in the womb, which the Vatican approved on March 25. “I'm impressed with the beauty of this blessing for human life in the womb,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “I can think of no better day to announce this news than on the feast of the Annunciation, when we remember Mary’s ‘yes’ to God and the incarnation of...

His spokeswoman has filed a complaint against me with TAS.Last week Cardinal Donald Wuerl lodged a complaint against me with my editors at TAS, via his communications director, Chieko Noguchi, after my article, "Cardinal Wuerl's Dereliction of Duty," appeared. This is pretty much what I expected. Wuerl is notoriously thin-skinned about sharp criticism from orthodox Catholics. And since he likes to operate in the shadows -- confrontation is "not his style of pastoral ministry," he told a reporter in 2007 -- he had his paid PR agent do the dirty work for him. Say this for Tod Tamberg, Cardinal Roger...

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrived in Cuba on Monday and told the government it had nothing to fear from the Catholic Church, asking for more freedoms to help the communist country in times of change. Just three days after saying that communism no longer works in Cuba, the pope took a softer stance as he landed in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba for a three-day trip aimed at boosting the Church's role on the island. The 84-year-old German pope delivered a carefully worded, nuanced and balanced arrival address after he was greeted warmly by...

>Pope Benedict XVI arrived Monday in Cuba seeking to boost his Church's special dialogue with the Communist regime, as dissidents said more than 150 people were arrested to derail protests. President Raul Castro and a delegation of church officials greeted the 84-year-old pontiff at the airport in Santiago, Cuba's second largest city, where a massive crowd was expected to gather for mass later in the day.After a visit to predominantly Roman Catholic Mexico, the pontiff is seeking to bolster close church-state ties in Cuba -- the Americas' only one-party Communist state -- while also urging authorities to embrace change."I come...

We challenge you to question Mormonism. We focus on a source of current events and other information related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and to a lesser extent, other groups that claim Joseph Smith, Jr. as a true prophet. As Evangelical Christians, we also desire to convert Mormons and the state of Utah in particular to the real Jesus Christ. MormonInfo.org is a ministry of Courageous Christians United and hosts the Salt Lake City Ex-Mormon Meetup. Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity Mormonism Christianity What is the Church? The LDS Church is the only true...

“It seems to me very important to announce a God who responds to our reason. We see the rationality of the cosmos; we see that there is something behind it. But we do not see how this God is near to us, how He concerns Himself with me. We do not see how this synthesis of the great and majestic God with the small God orients me, shows me the values of my life. To show this is the nucleus of evangelization.” -- Pope Benedict XVI, Interview on Flight to Mexico City, March 23, 2012 (Translation from Italian by the...

(Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he had started radiation treatment in Cuba, where he could also meet Pope Benedict in the latest high profile development as the president tries to fight off cancer and win re-election. Chavez was back in Havana a month after he had surgery there to remove a second malignant tumor from his pelvis. The treatment will take him off the political stage just as his election rival gears up a nationwide campaign tour ahead of the October 7 vote. In a phone call to Venezuelan state TV, Chavez said he had undergone the...

Sunday evening, 25 March 2012, the Holy Father celebrated Vespers with the Bishops of Mexico and Latin America in the Cathedral of Our Most Holy Mother of Light (León). In his homily, the Pope spoke of the self-sacrificing missionaries who first proclaimed the Name of Christ to the peoples of this continent. Your Eminences, Dear Brother Bishops, It gives me great joy to be able to pray with all of you in this Basilica-Cathedral of León, dedicated to our Lady of Light. In the lovely painting venerated in this basilica, the Blessed Virgin holds her Son in one hand with immense tenderness...

Growth of Christianity in Iran Explosive Faith issues/Open Doors The number of Muslims coming to Christ from Islam – often called Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) or Secret Believers – is growing faster and faster in Iran. In fact, according to Open Doors’ Middle East workers, the growth is “explosive.” They even speak of a revival inside Iran, especially among young people. Forty years ago an estimated 200 Muslim Background Believers were living in Iran. Today the estimation is 370,000 MBBs. According to Open Doors, the house church movement has triggered many secret meetings. The growth is happening in all regions,...

Pope Benedict XVI speaks during a meeting with children, from the balcony of the State Government building "Casa del Conde Rul" in Guanajuato March 24, 2012. Guanajuato, Mexico, Mar 25, 2012 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After waiting all day to hear Pope Benedict XVI address them on the evening of March 24, thousands of Mexicans felt moved and inspired by the Pope's call to change the world through God's love.“We are happy, and support him wholeheartedly because we love him. His words give hope to this country that needs it so much,” said Yolet, a girl from Guadalajara who...

Father Federico Lombardi at press conference in the Hotsson Hotel in Leon, March 23, 2012 Leon, Mexico, Mar 24, 2012 / 12:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict has delivered a message to the people of Guanajuato from his predecessor Blessed John Paul II, which was given aboard the late Pope's plane but virtually “forgotten” after 1979.“It would be very pleasing to have visited your beloved land, but circumstances have not permitted the time for it,” Pope John Paul II said in words originally directed to the people of Guanajuato as his plane passed over the Sanctuary of Christ the...

Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating an open-air Mass in the central Mexican city of Silao on his first visit to the Latin American country. Hundreds of thousands of people are attending the service, under a large statue of Christ in the city's Bicentennial Park.On Saturday, the Pope met President Felipe Calderon, with whom he discussed Mexico's drugs violence.Mexico is the world's second most populous Catholic country.Huge crowds have turned out to greet the Pope during his visit, and thousands camped out in the park overnight on Saturday awaiting the Mass.This is the showpiece event of Pope Benedict's first trip to...

April 7, 2012 "Living Our Faith with Archbishop Listecki" will be presented by Catholic Financial Life. This will be presented on WISN TV Channel 12 in MIlwaukee on April 7, 2012 (Saturday)at noon and on Sunday April 8 at 4:30 am. It will also be posted at www.livingourfaith.net. Bob Dolan, former TV and radio personality and brother of Cardinal Dolan interviews Cardinal Dolan shortly before his elevation.

2012-03-25 Vatican Radio Whenever and wherever Pope Benedict XVI meets children, there is always cause for joy and celebration. Yesterday evening in Mexico was no exception, as our correspondent with the Pope, Philippa Hitchen, reports.How do you capture in a few words the excitement and enthusiasm of several thousand Mexican school kids who’ve been waiting impatiently all day for their first sight of the Pope? How do you describe the electric atmosphere of the crowds crammed into the appropriately named Peace Square, with bands playing their favourite folk songs and the great bells of the 17th century neo-classical Basilica ringing...