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The Holy Father has noted that same-sex marriage threatens the family.The Pope was speaking at a meeting with families in Manila. Pope Francis said calls to introduce same-sex marriage are a threat to the family. Said the Pope: “The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage.”
The remarks came at the end of his first full day in the Philippines. Earlier at a Mass for priests, religious and bishops at Manila’s cathedral the Pope had said that Philippine society was “tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family”.
Francis said: “As you know, these realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture.”
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Pope Francis has lashed out at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for the release of a new insulting illustration. While en route to visit the Philippines on Thursday, Pope said that there should be limits to the freedom of expression. “Expect a punch when you say a curse on my mother,” Pope said while referring to a recent cartoon featured on the front page of Charlie Hebdo, which clearly insult Islam’s most reverent figure, Prophet Mohammed.
“You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others,” Pope said. He said that he accepts that the freedom of speech and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights, but he added that there should be limits and restrictions on offending and ridiculing the beliefs and faiths of others.
Muslims across the world have expressed their outrage at the French weekly’s release of inflammatory cartoons last Wednesday. Religious leaders across the world have also denounced the purely provocative move, calling it a direct insult to all Muslims. Muslims in the Philippines, a majority-Christian country where Pope has arrived for a visit, also protested the publications of the drawings Thursday.
A January 7 attack on the office of the satirical magazine, which had in the past published cartoons insulting Islamic sanctities, left 12 people killed. The incident was followed by a series of other sieges and shootings in France, resulting in the killing of more people and an extensive sense of insecurity in the country.
Culled from Presstv
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This place is called Manfo in the Ahafo-Ano South District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is about 230 kilometers from the national capital, Accra.
Around the 1950s, a Roman Catholic Priest called Rev. Father Paul Amoako was posted to the area for parish duties. When the priest arrived in the area, it was a typical conservative African traditional society with the indigenous people worshiping river gods and other spirits. Church members were relatively few in those days and it was quite difficult for the church to win new converts.
While Father Amoako was undertaking his parish duties, it was said he discovered that a particular place of the town is the highest point of the entire area. He then turned that particular area to his prayer place. Little literature available about the discovering made by the priest at the district archive department, indicates that the priest used to go to the place very late in the night to pray.
But traditional rulers in the area were quick to warn him that the place was inhabited by wild animals and evil spirits from ancient times and he should stop praying at the place for his own safety.
Mr. Kojo Mensah, who was very young when the priest arrived in the town, described how fearful the area was at the time as children were completely forbidden from going near to the place.
``I can say that the area was very dangerous. We were told as kids that the place is where human sacrifices were offered to the gods in the past and due to that sacrifices, evil spirits have taken over the place and harm anybody who dares go into the forest’’, he said.
Description of the place paints a picture of a thick forest when the priest first made his appearance at the place to pray.
The story continued that through constant praying and fasting at the spot, the father grew from strength to strength spiritually and this inspired other church members to follow him. Soon, the place which used to be a dangerous area became a place where church members who want spiritual growth from God turned their attention to.
It is said the priest then named the place Victory Grotto of the Lady Mary and urged his followers to treat the place as a holy site where they can go and seek spiritual growth from God.
Today, the place has now become a sacred spot of worship for Catholics and even non-Catholics throughout Ghana and some neighboring countries.
Thousands of Christians flock to the place to pray for spiritual powers and God’s blessing all year round. Tourism experts have advised the District Assembly in the area to fully develop the area into a big tourist attraction site to generate revenue from the numerous visitors who visit the area.
Rev. Father Paul Amoako might have thought that he was looking for a quite place to say his prayers but today, it has become one of the holy places in Ghana and beyond.
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Takfiri terrorists in Libya have reportedly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 21 Christians while Egypt has confirmed that 20 of its citizens were being held captive in the North African country. Activists from the SITE Intelligence Group reported on Monday that they have picked up a statement by the ISIL Takfiri group, saying its “soldiers” had “captured 21 Christian crusaders."
They further stated that three photos showing several men were published along with the brief statement by the terrorist group which did not reveal the nationality of those kidnapped and timing of their abduction. The spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry, Badr Abdel Atti, has confirmed that 20 Egyptians had been abducted in two separate incidents in Libya but did not elaborate on the religious affiliation of the abductees or when the kidnappings took place.
On January 3, a source close to the Libyan government announced that militant group Ansar al-Sharia had abducted the 20 men in the city of Sirte over several days. The coastal city of Sirte remains under the control of armed militias that include Ansar al-Sharia, which the United Nations added to its terror list last month over links with al-Qaeda as well as conducting ISIL training camps. In February, the bodies of seven Egyptian Christians were discovered near Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, which is partly held by the Takfiri militants.
Culled from Presstv
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The Retired Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon(PCC), Rt. Rev. Dr. Festus ASANA has revealed that the recent PCC elections in PC AZIRI Bamenda that saw Rev. Fonki Samuel as his successor was conducted in an unorthodox Christian way. The Moderator Emeritus, who was speaking during a warm reception ceremony in Bafut, failed to mention names but said the people who traded words and money know themselves and that the act was against the Bible. The new Moderator, Rev. Fonki Samuel was elected at the 47th Synod of the Presbyterian Church that held at the Church Centre Mankon Tuesday November 24, 2014
He was declared winner at the detriment of outgoing Synod Clerk, the Rev. Abwenzoh William Membong, with 74 as against 46 votes from the 120 delegates that took part in the election. The Rev. Forchang Babila George replaced Rev. Abwenzoh as winner for the position of Synod Clerk, beating the Rev. Nganji Christain by 70 to 47 votes. The Moderator emeritus is calling for reconciliation among PCC Christians. Many Christians have argued that the people of the North West have held the PCC top job hostage and now considered as no go areas to southeasterners.
During the ceremony to welcome back home Rt. Rev. Dr. ASANA, Christians and elites of Bafut rallied at the Fon’s palace plaza in a four hours that brought Christians from Njinteh, Manji and Nchum parishes. Reading from Mtt 2.13-23, Rev. Dr. Ngwa Julius Ambe dwelled on the team "When you render services and you retire, go back home and rest" Moderator emeritus Rev. Dr. Festus ASANA testified he was called to serve God at a very tender age in form 3. He has served the PCC as parish pastor, since before being moderator. The Fon of Bafut decorated him with a traditional attire giving him a sword, a special bag and titled him Nkum (meaning Chief Counselor)
He served as Moderator for One term of five years.
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There is in our time a certain wave of anti-Catholicism that seeks to drown the Holy Roman Catholic Church in a sea of guilt for its past mistakes and moral failing. It does not seem to matter how often the Roman Catholic Church at all levels may show its repentance, there never seems to be any recognition of this in the constant and mounting wave of criticism that much of the time rises to a form of snide vilification beyond justification. It does no good to remind people that though the Roman Catholic Church on earth is divinely instituted, it is at the time humanly constituted and will always carry with it traces of the evil it tries to counter.
A characteristic of this wave of anti-Catholicism is that it so often attributes to the Roman Catholic Church beliefs or stances it does not hold. It has become so politically correct in some quarters to knock the Roman Catholic Church that accuracy, truth and justice seem to go out the window. An example of this phenomenon is the way the Roman Catholic Church is often attacked for its position on the family.
When the Roman Catholic Church affirms the notion of family as that of the stable relationship between two parents-man and woman and their children, the response is often a vicious attack on two fronts. The first front makes it seem that this notion is in some way the creation of the Roman Catholic Church and not to be taken too seriously, somehow out of date. This is common with many prominent members in the Parish Councils in Cameroon who are polygamists. And who are aware the Roman Catholic Church needs their money to function and can only refuse them Holy Communion in return. This completely ignores the fact that the Roman Catholic did not invent marriage or the family. These two institutions are natural to human beings and are deeply imbedded in human experience. These two institutions are the basic elements of human society.
The contribution of the Roman Catholic Church is to endeavor to refine and uphold what is an essential feature of human existence. The family is the natural basic unit of any society. If you break this down anywhere in the world, the consequences will be a break down of that society no matter what religious beliefs are in place. What this writer is saying is simply that the stable family unit of parents and children was not invented by the Roman Catholic Church or Cardinal Tumi but by nature.
The second front on which the Roman Catholic Church has been attacked in this family matter is that the Holy Roman Catholic Church is lacking in compassion for the single parent family. The Roman Catholic Church on earth remains the only establishment that cherishes and supports single parent family. The Roman Catholic Church support for single parent family is matchless, without qualification, without strings and above all and in the words of Archbishop Cornelius Esua, without judgment.
I learnt from my own mother that single parent family nurture their families with no less dedication and success than two parents families will achieve. She demonstrated to me that the struggle of the good single parent family will be harder than the struggle of the good two parent family. My time in Mamfe, the chief town in Manyu Division in Cameroon tells me that being a two parent family is no guarantee of success and dysfunctional families are of all sorts and also, problem children are of many backgrounds. But when all that is said and without being judgmental or critical of anyone, the best chance for all in the world, is the norm of the stable two parent family-father, mother and children.
It is a curious feature of our time that when there is failure to conform to the norm, whether it is in the area of marriage or celibacy or chastity, then the cry goes out to do away with the norm. When a principle becomes too difficult to sustain or is widely ignored, then the cry goes out------------do away with the principle. I remember with passion the story of my mother who gave all her time on earth to the Roman Catholic Church as a teacher but was given a disgraceful and forceful retirement by a heartless priest call Father Charles Leke. I attempted to use the pages of the The Herald newspaper at the time in Yaounde, Cameroon to put up a fight against this outrageous man call Father Charles Leke and my mum prevented it. The same Charles Leke escaped to the USA on lame and ridiculous reasons that the followers of Rev. Father Ettiene Khumbah wanted to kill him. In the USA, he has been a prominent and successful failure and a complete disgrace to the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon(Google Father Charles Leke) and his American Bishop has expelled him from his Parish. This is an example of ------do away with the principle!! When we continue to do away with the principle, we should all remember that we are heading towards the road to chaos!!
When God decided to enter into our humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, that humanity was nurtured in the arena of the family. In the stability of the relationship of a man and a woman and a child, we are told in scripture, he grew in age and wisdom. We Roman Catholics celebrate that in the feast of the Holy Family. To celebrate this is in no way to diminish the value or dignity of any person. To celebrate this is simply to say that the norm should not be diminished or downgraded either, and it certainly should not be abandoned.
The Roman Catholic Church did not invent marriage and the family. The Roman Catholic Church along with many other institutions affirms and supports what nature and human experience selected as the norm.
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