Pope Francis holds the weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square  (AFP or licensors)

Pope Francis invites the faithful to undertake their lenten journey of prayer, fasting and works of mercy to strengthen them in their resolve to follow the Lord on his journey through Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

Dear brothers and sisters: Today, Ash Wednesday, begins our annual Lenten journey of preparation for Easter.  In a sense, we imitate Jesus, who spent forty days of prayer in the desert preparing for his public ministry.  From a spiritual perspective, the desert is a place of life, not death.  It is a place of silence, where we are interiorly free to hear the Lord’s word and to experience his loving call.  In our busy world, how much we need that kind of silence, in order to grow in prayerful openness to God, to cultivate an ecology of the heart and to centre our lives on the things that really matter.  An important part of our Lenten desert experience is the practice of fasting, which trains us to recognize, in simplicity of heart, how often our lives are spent in empty and superficial pursuits.  The solitude of the desert makes us all the more sensitive to those in our midst who quietly cry out for our help and encouragement.  This Lent, may our prayer, fasting and works of mercy strengthen us in our resolve to follow the Lord on his journey through Good Friday to Easter Sunday, and enable us to know the power of his grace, which can make of every desert a garden of new life… Kompli aqra »

Il-ktieb Crux Invicta – Il-Kurċifiss Mirakuluż u l-Kapuċċini f’Għawdex, ta’ Patri Martin Micallef O. Cap, jinseġ tapizzerija rikka ta’ ħajja Kapuċċina f’dawn il-gżejjer madwar il-leit motif tal-istorja tal-kurċifiss li hemm fil-knisja u l-kunvent tal-Ordni f’Għawdex.

Fuq l-isfond ta’ kif żviluppa l-kult tal-kurċifiss sa mill-ewwel sekli tal-era Kristjana, kemm fid-dinja Kattolika kif ukoll f’dawn il-gżejjer, l-awtur ilaqqam il-ġrajja ta’ kif dan il-kurċifiss, li nħadem fi Sqallija fl-1683 minn artist tajjeb u li s’issa għadu mhux magħruf, inġieb f’dawn il-gżejjer mill-Kommendatur Miceli, l-ewwel f’Malta u aktar tard, bil-ħidma tal-Għawdxi de Soldanis, għadda f’idejn il-Kapuċċini li kienu għadhom kemm fetħu l-kunvent tagħhom, tefgħa ta’ ġebla bogħod miċ-Ċittadella, f’Forn il-Ġir… Kompli aqra »

Dakinhar tad-90 Anniversarju, tat-twaqqif tal-Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija, id-19 ta’ Frar 2020, saret attività għall-istudenti u l-istaff fil-kappella tal-Università biex tħeġġeġ lill-persuni jkomplu niżirgħu t-tama; ikun xi jkun l-istat ta’ ħajjithom. L-attività bdiet bil-quddiesa li ssir ta’ kuljum, li tmexxiet minn Dun Keith Bonnici u Dun Bernard Micallef.

Dun Keith waqt il-quddiesa semma’ kif f’Malta l-ewwel żerriegħa nibtet fost l-istudenti tal-Università, b’inizjattiva tal-Professur Patri Danjel Callus, O.P… Kompli aqra »

Pope greets participants of Plenary of the Congregation for Catholic Education (Vatican Media)

Pope Francis addresses participants of the Plenary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, urging them to “unite efforts in a broad educational alliance to form mature people, capable of overcoming fragmentation and opposition and rebuild the fabric of relationships for a more fraternal humanity”.

“Education is a dynamic reality; it is a movement that brings people to light.” Those were the words of Pope Francis to participants of the Plenary of the Congregation for Catholic Education… Kompli aqra »

Ilbieraħ, 19 ta’ Frar 2020, ngħatat bidu għal laqgħa ta’ riflessjoni u spiritwalità ‘Il-Mediterran fruntiera ta’ Paċi’, f’Bari. Il-konferenza, organizzata mill-Konferenza Episkopali Taljana (CEI), infetħet mill-President tagħha l-Kardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, President fejn semma’ li llum il-ġurnata l-Mediterran spiċċa qabar għal eluf ta’ nies, meta qabel kien mużajk tal-kulturi u tradizzjonijiet Kristjani u jixtiequ jerġa’ jiġi kif kien. U għalhekk talab għall-ġustizzja u l-paċi kontra l-ħażen tal-gwerer, il-vjolenza u l-“kaos kontrollat”… Kompli aqra »

The book A Politics of Peace: The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs during the pontificate of Benedict XV (1914-1922) is the result of years of research by the historian Rev. Dr Nicholas Joseph Doublet on this important structure of the Roman Curia during a pontificate that coincided with a delicate moment in world history.

The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs can be considered the political ‘think tank’ of the Roman Curia as it was responsible for the Vatican’s bi-lateral relations with other states, as well as treating delicate ecclesiastical issues in the local churches… Kompli aqra »