stjohnmaryvianneyparish: May 2013

Monday 20 May 2013

Cleric says Nigeria needs the Holy Spirit for renewal, redemption

By Julius Augustine

Rev. Fr. Linus Barau, a visiting Priest to St. John Mary Vianney Catholic Church, Kubwa extension, Abuja has called on Nigerians to embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit for total cleansing and redemption.
Barau said on Sunday in Abuja after a Holy mass to mark the feast of the Pentecost Sunday.
According to Christian tradition, Pentecost Sunday is celebrated forty days after Easter by Christians of the

Catholic Bishops’ Conference endorses measures by FG to curb insurgency, criminality in Nigeria

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has endorsed recent measures adopted by the Federal Government to check insurgency and rising wave of crime in certain parts of the country.
President of CBCN, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday at the end of a week-long retreat for bishops and other clergymen of the Catholic faith in Nigeria.

Pope Francis confirms new saints

Catholic pontiff Francis today gave the church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

60 Catholic bishops to grace installation of new Nsukka bishop

Sixty Catholic bishops are expected to attend the installation of Monsignor Godfrey Onah as the new bishop of the Nsukka Catholic Diocese in Enugu State, an official has said.
Rev. Fr Chuma Nnamene, the Director of Social Communication in the diocese, said on Monday that the bishops would be joined by 4,000 revered fathers and sisters from within and outside the country at the installation.

Friday 3 May 2013

Pope Francis welcomes retired Pope Benedict back to Vatican

The helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI passes the dome of St. Peter's Basilica as the retired pope returns to the Vatican May 2. The pope will live in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens. (CNS/Paul Haring)

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For the first time in history, the Vatican is home to a pope and a retired pope.

Pope Francis welcomed his predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, to the Vatican May 2 outside the convent remodeled for the 86-year-old retired pontiff and five aides. Pope Francis and Pope Benedict entered the convent's chapel together "for a brief moment of prayer," said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan challenged Massgoers to hold onto hope and to pray for the safety and well-being of two Orthodox archbishops kidnapped in Syria in late April while carrying out a humanitarian mission.

"Our prayers are singularly fervent this spring morning as I invite all of us to unite in supplication," Cardinal Dolan said during Mass May 2 in St. Patrick's Cathedral for Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna of Aleppo.