Dispatches

Each year Portugal rsquo s leading newspaper Expresso hands out the Pessoa Prize mdash ldquo the Person rdquo mdash to a figure in Portuguese society who has contributed most to the culture It rsquo s the nation rsquo s most important cultural award Its recipients are writers artists musicia

In Asia says Hanoi Archbishop Peter Nguy n V n Nh n ldquo It is more suitable for us to speak of the life of Jesus in a manner more in accord with how He Himself preached two thousand years ago with His parables An eastern not rationalist fashion rdquo Age 76 now Cardinal Nguy n has s

ldquo The Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is found and revealed rsquo Pope Francis told the new cardinals as he spelled out clearly the direction he wants the leadership of the Catholic Church to take in the world today He did so in an inspiring and highly significant homily d

Parliament erupted into a brawl just a few sentences into the president’s speech

Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals from 17 countries in St Peter rsquo s Basilica on Feb 14 in the presence of his predecessor Benedict XVI Being a cardinal is ldquo an honor rdquo but ldquo not a kind of accessory a decoration like an honorary title rdquo he told them As cardinals he

Cardinals from all continents expressed ldquo appreciation rdquo for the reforms already achieved or underway in the Roman Curia under Pope Francis particularly in the field of Vatican Finances but they recognized that there is still a long way to go before the reform can be completed They also

In East Africa they call him ldquo Bwana Yesu rdquo mdash ldquo Lord Jesus rdquo Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel C M 66 has been the Archbishop of Addis Ababa Ethiopia since 1999 also the head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy Se

When Bishop Jos Luis Lacunza Maestroju n O A R 70 ordinary of the diocese of David Panam was told he was being elevated to the role of Cardinal he thought it was ldquo crazy rdquo And the fact is although Panama was in fact the home of the first Catholic diocese in the Americas it h

The establishment of two new congregations mdash the first for ldquo Laity-Family-Life rdquo the second for ldquo Charity-Justice-Peace rdquo that includes a new office for ecology mdash were among the proposals for reform of the Roman Curia that were presented to the College of Cardinals on F

Archbishop John Dew 66 leader of the Church in Wellington New Zealand first looked to the priesthood because he felt a pull ldquo to be doing something that would make a difference to the lives of others The call of the Gospel was the only way that made sense for me rdquo Roughly 55 percent