Page 7 - Oby Mac News Today

Pope Francis at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 17, 2023. / Vatican MediaDenver, Colo., May 31, 2023 / 11:45 am (CNA).Pope Francis prayer intention for the month of June is for the abolition of torture. "Torture is not past history. Unfortunately, its part of our history today," Pope Francis said in a video released May 30."How is it possible that the human capacity for cruelty is so huge?" he questioned. "There are extremely violent form...

Religious sisters of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, sing as the process with the body of their late foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, on May 29, 2023, at their abbey near Gower, Missouri. The sisters exhumed the nun's body on May 18 and discovered that it was apparently intact, four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin. / Joe Bukuras/CNAGower, Missouri, May 29, 2023 / 20:02 pm (CNA).The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, an African American nun wh...

Father Matthias Opara was freed May 28, 2023, after spending three days in captivity in Nigerias Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri. / Credit: Catholic Archdiocese of OwerriACI Africa, May 30, 2023 / 12:30 pm (CNA).Father Matthias Opara, a Nigerian Catholic priest who was abducted on May 26 while returning from a funeral, has been released.The parish priest of Holy Ghost Obosima Catholic Parish of Owerri Archdiocese in Nigeria regained his freedom on Pentecost Sunday, May 28, the chancellor of the N...

Pope Francis meets with young cancer patients from Poland at the Vatican on May 29, 2023. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, May 30, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis welcomed pediatric cancer patients from Poland to the Vatican on Monday, telling them "Jesus is always close to you."Children being treated at the Wroclaw Oncology Clinic and their families prayed a Hail Mary together with the pope, who greeted each child individually and gave them rosaries.Pope Francis meets with you...

Thousands of pilgrims have lined up at the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, to view the remains of Sr. Wilhelmina Lancaster. / nullWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2023 / 14:05 pm (CNA).Thousands of pilgrims are descending on a Benedictine abbey outside rural Gower, Missouri, this Memorial Day weekend to view the surprisingly well-preserved body of its African American foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, who died in 2019.On Sunday, the feast of Pentecost, an average of 200 ...

Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI Hall on January 26, 2022. / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 29, 2023 / 04:30 am (CNA).Attention #CatholicTwitter and keyboard warriors, the Vatican has released recommendations for how to better "love your neighbor" on social media. The 20-page text, "Towards Full Presence: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media" published on May 29 addresses the challenges Christians face in using social media.Topics cover...

Father Emil Kapaun celebrating Mass using the hood of a jeep as his altar, Oct. 7, 1950. Public domain. / nullDenver, Colo., May 29, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).After several years in the making, the United States Post Office in Herington, Kansas, will be changing its name to the Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building on May 30. This endeavor was first introduced in 2021 through a bill written by U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, who wished to honor the life of the great Kansan and American hero."Fathe...

Pope Francis presides over Pentecost Mass in St. Peters Basilica on May 28, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, May 28, 2023 / 05:15 am (CNA).On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis urged Catholics to invoke the Holy Spirit daily to bring harmony to a divided world, a polarized Church, and to broken hearts.Speaking in St. Peters Basilica, the pope explained that the role of the Holy Spirit, both at the beginning of the creation of the world and at all times, is to make "created rea...

Pope Francis delivers the Regina Caeli address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on May 28, 2023. / Vatican MediaVatican City, May 28, 2023 / 07:15 am (CNA).From the Philippines to Portugal, Marian shrines around the world will participate in a special day of prayer this Wednesday for the work of the Synod on Synodality. In his Regina Caeli address, Pope Francis announced that the day of prayer for the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will take place on May 31, the ...

Null / ShutterstockWashington D.C., May 26, 2023 / 16:15 pm (CNA).A freelance journalist who has reported on a surge of violent attacks by radicalized Muslims in Nigeria for CNA recently found himself caught in the middle of a firefight between government soldiers and armed militiamen."With hundreds of bullets flying over my head, and the whizzing gunfire whipping past my ears, lying flat on the ground and crawling on we were swarmed by more than 200 armed terrorists who were dressed in bla...