Frightful Nightmare: Students at Christian boarding school kidnapped in Cameroon, released days later, teachers still held

Bamenda, Cameroon, Nov 6, 2018 / 11:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).– Armed separatists kidnapped 79 students from a Christian boarding school in Cameroon Monday. The principal, a teacher, and one other staff member were taken hostage Nov. 5 with the students aged 10 to 14 from the Presbyterian Secondary School in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s…

Astronomers vote to rename Hubble’s Law to honor Belgian priest

Astronomers vote to rename Hubble’s Law to honor Belgian priest

CNA/EWTN News—The International Astronomical Union has voted in favor of a recommendation to rename the Hubble law the Hubble-Lemaître law, to acknowledge the contributions of the Belgian priest and astronomer Georges Lemaître to the scientific theory of the expansion of the universe. “To honour the intellectual integrity and the supremely significant discovery by Georges Lemaître,…

New Tech can identify you by how you walk, gait recognition

New Tech can identify you by how you walk, gait recognition

Chinese authorities have begun deploying a new surveillance tool: “gait recognition” software that uses people’s body shapes and how they walk to identify them, even when their faces are hidden from cameras. Already used by police on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai, “gait recognition” is part of a push across China to develop artificial-intelligence…

Benedict XVI praises Cardinal Sarah as great spiritual teacher

Benedict XVI praises Cardinal Sarah as great spiritual teacher

In an afterword to a book on silence and prayer authored by Cardinal Robert Sarah (released late Spring 2017), Benedict XVI praised the prelate as a spiritual model given the depth of his interior life, saying the liturgy is safe in his hands. “Cardinal Sarah is a spiritual teacher, who speaks out of the depths…

Chinese authorities destroy two Marian shrines despite Vatican-China agreement

Chinese authorities destroy two Marian shrines despite Vatican-China agreement

Beijing, China, Oct 26, 2018-(CNA)—As part of an ongoing crackdown on religious practice in the country, Chinese authorities demolished two Catholic Marian shrines this week. The move comes just one month after the Chinese government signed an agreement with the Vatican regarding the appointment of bishops. (short video slideshow here) According to reports from AsiaNews,…

Young Woman from Beijing China Discovers Faith and Freedom

Young Woman from Beijing China Discovers Faith and Freedom

Beijing, China, Oct 30, 2018 —CNA– The first time Wenxuan Yuan visited a Catholic church in Beijing as a child, she was struck by its beauty. In the courtyard of the church there was a blackboard with a verse from the Book of Revelation in Chinese, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and…

Michael’s Picks: 13 Halloween Movie Night Chillers

Michael’s Picks: 13 Halloween Movie Night Chillers

Michael Saltis delivers a great list of Halloween movies to satisfy just about anyone’s taste in genre, from Hollywood classics, to family-friendly, to funny, to … uh… hauntingly disturbing (for me anyway) – editor.  Take YOUR pick—                           01. The Mummy (1999) Let’s…

Federal District Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Ohio Voting Law, Denies ‘End Run’ Attempt Around Earlier Supreme Court Ruling

Federal District Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Ohio Voting Law, Denies ‘End Run’ Attempt Around Earlier Supreme Court Ruling

There are so many ways to be unethical, sadly, and such behavior shows itself in every conceivable human endeavor and profession.  Among those who relentlessly pursue self-interest and power—and who will use every deception and falsehood to do so in the name of a twisted sense of “justice,” elections tend to bring out the most…

MOVIE REVIEW: Venom

MOVIE REVIEW: Venom

“Maybe it’s a breakup. A death. An accident. Whatever it is, you used to be one thing. Now, you’re something else. We all have our own problems. Our own issues. Our own… demons.” Sony’s Marvel-linked “villain universe” is off to an auspicious start. With massive box-office sales set to pass those of both 20th Century…

Synod: Young Indonesian auditor brings unique perspective

Synod: Young Indonesian auditor brings unique perspective

Vatican News—30-year-old Anastasia Indrawan comes from Indonesia and is a member of the Youth Commission of Indonesian Bishops’ Conference. She brings a unique perspective to the Synod of Bishops because she is among the Catholic minority in her country. Anastasia spoke with Devin Watkins about this experience. No need to be afraid of young people…

Islamic radicals against parish charity work in Yogyakarta

Islamic radicals against parish charity work in Yogyakarta

Earlier this year, but not an isolated incident, the ongoing persecution of Catholic and other Christians who try to alleviate the suffering of others, in Indonesia, regardless of religion, demands our ongoing prayers. The following news story captures the reality of the situation well.  Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Groups of hard-line Muslims have been protesting the…

Christian filmmakers threatened with fines and jail time for refusing to cover same sex weddings

Christian filmmakers threatened with fines and jail time for refusing to cover same sex weddings

Facing the threat of heavy fines and up to 90 days in prison, two Christian filmmakers appeared in court tomorrow to stop Minnesota from forcing them to produce and create films supporting same sex marriage. Filmmakers Carl and Angel Larsen assert that doing so would violate their religious beliefs. Jeremy Tedesco – Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom – believes the…

U.S. Supreme Court rulings on “Compelled Speech”

U.S. Supreme Court rulings on “Compelled Speech”

ADF—We all know that the First Amendment protects us from censorship of what we say, but we often don’t think about the flipside. Our constitutionally protected freedom of speech also means that no one can force us to say things we do not want to say—especially things that violate our deepest beliefs. Forced or “compelled…

Meet our Seven Newly Canonized Saints

Meet our Seven Newly Canonized Saints

CNA—Below are brief biographies on the lives of each of the seven new saints canonized by Pope Francis Sunday, as well as photos of each saint’s banner currently on display at the Vatican. Blessed Pope Paul VI Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 and ordained a priest in 1920, he did graduate studies in literature,…

Archbishop of Denver Talks about Evangelizing Youth

Archbishop of Denver Talks about Evangelizing Youth

About 200 people flocked to St. Raymond’s Catholic Church in Dublin, CA, this week to hear the Archbishop of Denver, Samuel J. Aquila, speak about how a strong lay apostolate movement was built in Denver (full transcript here). The evening was made possible by Catholics at Work, a faith-based organization that brings inspiring speakers to…

Justice Kavanaugh Approved and Sworn in

Justice Kavanaugh Approved and Sworn in

On Saturday evening, October 6, U.S. Supreme Court nominee and now-former member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Brett Kavanaugh, 53, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 50-48.  Immediately following the confirmation, Kavanaugh was officially sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice by Chief Justice John Roberts and…

The Battle of Lepanto: The Battle that Saved the Christian West and A Lesson for Our Times

The Battle of Lepanto: The Battle that Saved the Christian West and A Lesson for Our Times

On October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, more than on any other feast day, I feel especially emboldened in faith and hope, no matter what may be the anti-common sense, anti-life, anti-Christian news of the day!  The reason is simple.  The power of praying the Rosary was manifest in such a…

D.C. Dignity of Work Conference Delivers – for seasoned and young professionals alike

D.C. Dignity of Work Conference Delivers – for seasoned and young professionals alike

The Napa Institute, in conjunction with The Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America (CUA), held its fourth annual Principled Entrepreneurship Conference in Washington, D.C. this past week. This year’s conference drew together more than 150 businessmen and women, priests and religious who listened to dynamic presentations, participated in discussion-based focus groups,…

Catholic Business Profile: Eliud Kipchoge humbly smashes Marathon World Record, says it’s “heart and mind” that win the race

Catholic Business Profile: Eliud Kipchoge humbly smashes Marathon World Record, says it’s “heart and mind” that win the race

Eliud Kipchoge broke the marathon world record in Berlin in September with a time of  2:01:39. That’s TWO hours and slightly over one minute!  To put it it into perspective, in the same amount of time it took you to drive two hours away, Kipchoge RAN 26.2 miles without stopping!  He didn’t even look tired…

An Open Letter to Archbishop Chaput Supporting His Call to Cancel the Youth Synod

An Open Letter to Archbishop Chaput Supporting His Call to Cancel the Youth Synod

Crisis —  Your Excellency:   As a young Catholic, I write to share my grave concerns about the looming youth synod. I am grateful for your repeated efforts to promote orthodoxy at this event and your attempt to ask Pope Francis to presently cancel it in light of the sexual abuse crisis. “Right now, the bishops…

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