Filipino Catholics celebrate May festivals

MANY towns and villages across the country are now in the thick of celebrating the Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May), a centuries-old Catholic festival in honor of the Virgin Mary.


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A changed ‘Jane Roe’ to star in pro-life movie

HISTORICALLY, Norma McCorvey was known by her legal pseudonym “Jane Roe,” the plaintiff in the 1973 lawsuit “Roe v. Wade,” which later resulted in the US Supreme Court overturning individual states’ laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional.


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Meatless Fridays returning to England, Wales

THE practice of abstaining from eating meat on Fridays is to return in England and Wales later this year.


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Pope Benedict promotes Tridentine Mass

A NEW Vatican instruction calls on local bishops and pastors to respond generously to Catholics who seek celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly known as the Tridentine rite.


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Amnesty slams Vatican for failure to protect children

AMNESTY International named the Vatican in its annual report on human rights’ concerns for not sufficiently complying with international mandates on protecting children from abuse.


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Hong Kong Church group promotes breastfeeding

CONCERNS over infant milk formulas and misleading commercials have prompted the formation of a Church group to promote breastfeeding.


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Egyptian Copts want protection from sectarian violence

MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN sectarian violence intensified in Egypt this weekend, spurring an emergency meeting of the Cabinet and public exhortations from Coptic Christians for international protection.


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A long-simmering tension over ‘creeping infallibility’

WHEN Pope Benedict XVI used the word “infallible” in reference to the ban on women’s ordination in a recent letter informing an Australian bishop he’d been sacked, it marked the latest chapter of a long-simmering debate in Catholicism: Exactly where should the boundaries of infallible teaching be drawn?

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Manila Cathedral opens catechetical exhibits

THE Manila Cathedral’s Chapel of the Holy Souls will soon be transformed into an evangelizing Chapel Shrine with the opening of catechetical exhibits aimed at teaching the faithful about purgatory and intensifying the devotion to the Holy souls.


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Mike Arroyo’s grand aunt pushed for sainthood

THE Archdiocese of Jaro is hoping to have its first saint in the person of Mother Rosario Arroyo, a Dominican nun who is also a grand aunt of former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.


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Moro rebels challenge Church to take stand

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has challenged the Church and other civil society groups to take a stand, especially on “controversial issues” surrounding the peace process.


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‘Day of prayer’ set to defeat birth control bill

CHURCH leaders have set May 9 as a “National Day of Prayer” to press legislators into rejecting the passage of the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill in Congress.


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Philippines celebrates month for Blessed Mother, moms

IN keeping with an old tradition, the Philippines celebrates the month of May as the month of mothers and the Blessed Mother.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, special prayer services in honor of mothers were held in Catholic churches across the country. Offerings will be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, revered as the mother of Jesus, the mother of the Church, and the mother of all mankind.

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Bishop advises Pacquiao to quit ‘un-Christian’ sport

SAYING boxing a person was like “boxing the Holy Spirit,” Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel advised boxing legend and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao to retire from the ring.


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Christians ponder post-Osama landscape

SEVERAL schools and Church offices in Pakistan were closed Friday, fearing a backlash against Christians in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden this week in the northern garrison town of Abbottabad.


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San Malverde: patron saint of thieves and drug lords

MEXICO’S drug lords are so powerful they even have their own patron saint: San Malverde. Every year on May 3, residents of the north-western state of Sinaloa, the birthplace of Mexico’s largest drug cartel, flock to celebrate their beloved “good bandit.”


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Pope congratulates 34 new Swiss Guard recruits

POPE Benedict XVI met with 34 new Swiss Guard recruits on May 6 and offered words of wisdom and encouragement before the swearing-in ceremony.


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Vatican to address ‘Catholic identity’ at Caritas assembly

THE general assembly of Caritas Internationalis in late May is shaping up as a defining moment for the confederation of 165 national Catholic charities, at a time when the Vatican is insisting on greater control over Caritas operations.


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Bishops in Mindanao fear ‘impending’ terror attacks

CATHOLIC bishops urged people in Mindanao to be more vigilant as they believe that retaliatory attacks by sympathizers of slain terror leader Osama Bin Laden is highly possible in the region.

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Aquino opts for ‘good news’ diplomacy

THE presidential palace is launching a website containing only “good news” in a bid to halt President Benigno Aquino’s recent slide in the polls.

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Priest revives Chavacano radio drama

A CANADIAN Catholic priest is reviving a radio drama in Zamboanga City in a bid to preserve the Chavacano language.

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John Paul’s shrine to change town’s image

THE shrine of Blessed Pope John Paul II at Bataan Technology Park, Inc. (BTPI) in the municipality of Morong will help the town north of Manila redeem its unflattering image as home to the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

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Pacquiao says biggest fight against poverty

WHEN Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao climbs the ring for his world title fight against Shane Mosley this weekend, he will be wearing yellow boxing gloves.

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Protestant Church group hits ‘immoral’ motel

MEMBERS of a protestant Church in Manila held a protest march on Wednesday to call for a stop to the construction of a motel in front of a religious shrine and a few meters from several schools in the suburbs of Quezon City.

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Archbishop airs concern over Osama unarmed killing

ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury Rowan Williams says the US killing of unarmed Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has left “a very uncomfortable feeling.”

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Priest-psychologist sees ‘signs of grace’ in abuse scandal

A PRIEST-PSYCHOLOGIST said he sees “signs of grace” amid the darkness of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

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Award-winning film reminds of religious persecution

A SPECIAL screening of an award-winning film in Taipei has reminded many of those who saw it of the religious persecutions in mainland China more than half a century ago.

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Japan Catholic school aids disaster victims

THE Kesennuma Catholic Kindergarten held a ceremony recently to welcome new children and kick off the school year, an event that was postponed due to the disasters that ravaged the region.

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