Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Pontiff places 40-euro cap on personal gifts

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By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Pope Francis approved a new set of laws that require Vatican officials and employees to sign a declaration stating they have not been and are not suspected of committing crimes, including money laundering, corruption or exploitation of minors. The measures, issued “motu proprio,” on the pope’s own accord, […]

With May rosaries, Pope Francis prays to Mary for end of pandemic

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary’s intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he prayed May 1 that Mary would move people’s consciences “so that the enormous amounts […]

Christ’s victory over death proclaims a second chance for all

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POPE FRANCIS EASTER MESSAGE By Junno Arocho Esteves and Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Easter liturgies — with the fire, sharing of light from the paschal candle, the renewal of baptismal promises and the proclamation that Jesus has risen — assure people that it is never too late to start again, […]

Ministry to families must meet their real needs, pope says

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church cannot claim to safeguard marriage and family life if it simply repeats its traditional teaching without supporting, encouraging and caring for real families, especially when they struggle to live up to that teaching, Pope Francis said. “It’s not enough to repeat the value […]

Pope advances causes of three sisters who died of Ebola

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Less than a month after he recognized the “heroic virtues” of three Italian women religious who died caring for Ebola patients in Congo, Pope Francis did the same for three others who also contracted the disease and died in 1995. At a meeting March 17 with […]

For Lent, ask if one’s life is centered on God or oneself, pope says

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Lent is a time to reconsider the path one is taking in life and to finally answer God’s invitation to return to him with one’s whole heart, Pope Francis said. “Lent is not just about the little sacrifices we make, but about discerning where our hearts […]

Pope’s pilgrimage: Iraq: Full of historic sites important to Christianity

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By Dale Gavlak Catholic News Service AMMAN, Jordan — Pope Francis hopes to embark on the first-ever papal visit to the biblical land of Iraq in early March in a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts to the place known in Arabic as the “land of the two rivers” — the mighty Tigris and Euphrates — and […]

CNS Rome: full, accurate church reporting for 70 years

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By John Thavis Catholic News Service As Catholic News Service celebrates its centennial, the CNS Rome bureau is marking its own anniversary as a unique newsgathering satellite at the center of the universal church. Over its 70-year history, the Rome bureau has chronicled a multitude of epochal Catholic events, including the Second Vatican Council, six […]

Francis says money at root of opposition to annulment reform

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By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The potential loss of money and authority are often at the heart of the opposition against reforming the Catholic Church’s annulment process, Pope Francis said. Departing from his prepared remarks during a Jan. 29 meeting with members of the Roman Rota, a tribunal handling mostly […]