Improving the Lives of Poor Children in Nepal Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) began in March of 2005 when a friend took Michael Hess to an ‘orphanage’ in Dhapasi in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley that she said needed help. He found a small, rundown house with over two dozen destitute children. Malnourished, in poor health, and not attending school, the children were forced by the owners to beg on the streets. Michael assumed management of the home, renovated the building, and began to care for the children.
The pilgrims from the Diocese of Paisley received a 'Shout Out' today at the General Papal Audience - announced "From Scotland - The pilgrims from the Diocese of Paisley, accompanied by Bishop John Keenan". Well done and we hope you are enjoying your time in the 'Eternal City'!
The St. Vincent de Paul Society came to Scotland in 1845 only twelve years after the first Conference was founded by Frederic Ozanam in Paris. The 1840s in Scotland were years of the Irish immigrants with a crying need for those in better circumstances to help poor, unjustly-treated and often sick people trying to eke out a living in Scotland.
Photographer Lennart Nilsson spent 10 years of his life recording the growth of the human embryo, from conception to birth. Amazing images capturing the beginning of human life...this really does display the wonders of creation to its fullest!
John Paul Retreats is a newly created charity set up to help parents and siblings who are trying to cope with the loss of loved ones, either through death or other unforseen tragedy.
We do not need to wait for approval from Rome to begin implementing the conclusions of our Synod. Nor is the Synod Document a ‘one-size-fits-all’ Pastoral Plan because we are all at different stages on our journey, with different strengths and challenges. One suggestion is to set up an Implementation Team who will keep us fed with resources, concentrating on one or two Charter points at a time. Another suggestion is for parishes, schools and groups to create a ‘star and wish’ plan for development, choosing from the Charter a star they are good at and a wish to work towards, and then they carry our some self -evaluation of how they have done.
The British prime minister last week caused shockwaves with her call to re-introduce academic selection into public education. Even more surprising was her encouragement to Catholics to build more schools, suggesting that the trend toward ever-greater secularization may not be inevitable after all.
For one New York area priest, Father Mychal Judge, the Twin Towers attack made him a martyr. For two others, the experience of ministering to the survivors and caring for the dead remains an indelible memory that forever changed their lives and priesthoods.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said: "Religious and moral education enables children and young people to explore, debate and more importantly understand the world's major religions - as well as approaches to living independent of belief. "Religious observance is a whole school activity which should be sensitive to traditions and origins, and should seek to reflect these but it must equally be sensitive to individual beliefs, whether these come from a faith or non-faith perspective. "We encourage schools to discuss options with both parents and their children, particularly in the senior years."
DOCAT—a CAT that is out to change the world. Pope Francis repeatedly encourages us to go out into the world, to the peripheries of society and to minister to those in need. He reminds us of the poor, the marginalized, those affected by terror, pollution, tyranny, and the culture of death. While the media around us sometime portray current Catholic social teachings as “modern” or a “radical change to the views of the Church”, are they really?
According to a 2010 report from the United Nations Population Division, by 2045 the number of older persons in the world (defined as those 60 and above) will exceed the number of children (15 and under) for the first time. The UN body identified this as a demographic trend of mammoth consequence, one “without parallel in the history of humanity.”
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have said that proposals by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to authorise federally funded research on part-human, part-animal embryos are “grossly unethical.” The bishops made ethical and legal arguments in opposing the plan in a submission to the institute this week, saying that such research would result in “beings who do not fully belong to either the human race or the host animal species.” NIH has proposed funding scientists researching such embryos, known as chimeras. Chimeras definition (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. YES REALLY!!
Lovely to see a good turn out for our first Paisley Faith Forum talk - Does God Exist? Next talk is on Thursday 20th October Man: Are human beings a blessing or a blight on the environment? The Christian vision of the human person. Talk followed by tea/coffee and night prayer.
Hunger is a growing crisis in the UK. The St Vincent de Paul Society seek to tackle the issue in their 'Who Cares?' campaign... See how you can get involved and give a little back...
Young Catholics are leaving the faith at an early age – sometimes before the age of 10 – and their reasons are deeper than being “bored at Mass,” the author of a new report claims. “Those that are leaving for no religion – and a pretty big component of them saying they are atheist or agnostic – it turns out that when you probe a bit more deeply and you allow them to talk in their own words, that they are bringing up things that are related to science and a need for evidence and a need for proof,” said Dr. Mark Gray, a senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. “It’s almost a crisis in faith,” he told CNA. “In the whole concept of faith, this is a generation that is struggling with faith in ways that we haven’t seen in previous generations.”
As the struggle goes on to preserve the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, let us not forget the dangers of making uninformed decisions - there are agencies within our own community that are there to help and advise at the very beginning of unplanned pregnancies. They help in practical ways to ensure that you receive the best care for YOU & your BABY!
For over fifty years the little Albanian nun known for her work with the poor in Calcutta was wandering in a spiritual desert. On the outside she radiated joy, but on the inside she felt lonely and abandoned.