The Explainer: What is Palm Sunday? Why is the donkey important to the story? And how is it celebrated worldwide?
As the world marked Palm Sunday on the weekend, LUIS ANDRES HENAO, of Associated Press, explains what the day is all about…
US Lenten cease-fire campaign includes Ash Wednesday Mass outside White House
Washington DC, US RNS About 100 Christian protesters from several denominations praying for a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza gathered outside the White House on Ash Wednesday for a Catholic Mass and ecumenical Christian witness. “The intention was to pray for our fellow Catholic, Joe Biden,” said Judy Coode, communications director for the Catholic peace […]
St Valentine’s hometown strikes a balance between Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day
Terni, Italy RNS This Wednesday marked a peculiar challenge for practicing Catholics. Valentine’s Day, characterised by candlelit dinners and boxed chocolates, and Ash Wednesday, the start of Lenten privations, collided on 14th February this year, for an odd mashup of romance and abstinence. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has made it clear there will […]
Pope urges Catholics to swap social media for reflection as Lent begins
Rome, Italy Reuters Pope Francis urged Catholics to forgo worldly trappings and focus on essentials as he opened the season of Lent with a traditional Ash Wednesday Mass on one of Rome’s historic seven hills. He criticised people’s tendency to lay bare their lives on social media, deploring “a world in which everything, including our […]
Ten day vigil for climate change to kick off in London on Ash Wednesday
Norwich, UK A special 10 day Lenten vigil for climate change kicks off in London on Ash Wednesday. It has been organised by a coalition compromising Christian Aid, CAFOD, The Salvation Army, A Rocha UK, Christian Climate Action, Tearfund, Green Christian, Operation Noah and JPIT, a Baptist Union, Methodist Church and United Reformed church team […]
Marking the start of Lent, Pope calls for end to “dictatorship” of the superficial; repeats call for Ukraine ceasefire
Vatican City, ItalyAP Pope Francis ushered in the annual Christian Lenten period of sacrifice and reflection by encouraging people on Ash Wednesday to cast off what he called the “dictatorship” of heavy agendas and superficial needs. Pope Francis attends the Ash Wednesday mass at the Santa Sabina Basilica in Rome, Italy, on 22nd February, 2023. […]
Remember Ukrainians in shelters, Pope says; thanks Poland for refugee help
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis on Wednesday asked people around the world to remember Ukrainians in underground shelters seeking protection from bombardments and thanked Poland for taking in the bulk of refugees from the war. Francis spoke at his weekly general audience on Ash Wednesday, which he has declared a day of prayer and fasting for […]
Pope makes personal appeal in remarkable Russia embassy trip
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy on Friday to personally “express his concern about the war” in Ukraine, in an extraordinary, hands-on papal gesture that has no recent precedent. Francis later assured a top Ukrainian Greek Catholic leader he would do “everything I can” to help. Usually, popes receive ambassadors and heads […]
Ukraine appeals for UN help, Russia says can’t ignore ‘genocide’
United NationsReuters Ukraine appealed to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to stop Russia’s “aggressive plans,” while Russia said it could not ignore “the blatant genocide” of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and disparaged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Guterres and the United States have dismissed Moscow’s claims of genocide. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres […]
Brazil churches spark controversy with LGBT+ support in Lent campaign
Sao Paolo, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation A group of major Brazilian churches came under fire for supporting LGBT+ people for the first time in an annual Lent fundraising campaign that launched on Wednesday, in which they said homophobia leads to murder. Every year the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference (CNBB) kicks off a Fraternity Campaign on Ash Wednesday, […]