S i g n i s I n d i a

MUMBAI, India, November 24, 2009--“In this Year dedicated to Priests, Brother Agnelo shines as a model of how a priest has to be in the modern world,” said Fr Theodore Mascarenhas, an official of Goan descent who works at the Asia desk of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The man in question is Br Agnelo D’Souza, a missionary with the order of Saint Francis Xavier, who died in 1927 and was declared ‘venerable’ in 1986. read more »

VATICAN, Nov. 22, 2009-- From the Vatican, Benedict XVI is joining in the celebration of the Holy Land Christians who attended the beatification ceremony of Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas today in Nazareth.

In an address before praying the midday Angelus today, the Pope noted that "Mother Ghattas" has "the merit" of having founded "a congregation formed solely of women of the region, with the purpose of religious instruction, to overcome illiteracy and improve the conditions of the women of that time in the land where Jesus himself exalted their dignity."read more »

VATICAN, Nov. 22, 2009-- In his message on the Feast of Christ the King to the tens of thousands of people gathered on St Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI explained that the "power" of Christ is different from that of "the great of this world." Choosing Christ the King, he said, does not guarantee success, but peace and joy.read more »

LONDON, England, November 23, 2009--The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have set up a commission to help as many as 200 Anglican congregations join the Catholic Church under the new Apostolic Constitution.

John Broadhurst, the Anglican Bishop of Fulham and chairman of the Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith, said mass conversion was a real prospect, the Daily Mail reports.read more »

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, November 27, 2009--The Knights of Columbus are committing $1 million and many volunteer hours to feed the hungry.

A press release from the organization noted that this initiative aims to respond to the "far higher than usual" number of Americans and Canadians "at risk of hunger" and "the number of those planning to give to charity at this time of year lower than usual."

It reported that some 50 million Americans underwent "food insecurity" situations last year, and 18% more Canadians went to food banks for aid.read more »

MANILA, November 29, 2009—Representatives from the parishes, schools and communities in the Philippines comprising of religious men and women and seminarians have participated in the Bibliodrama workshop held November 18 in Bandong, Indonesia.

Resource speakers were Sr. Emma Gunanto, organizer of the first Bibliodrama workshop in Indonesia in 2006 and Fr. Oscar Alunday, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for Biblical Apostolate (ECBA).

Fr. Alunday said that the participants graduated as a new community of potential members of Bibliodrama Indonesia. read more »

COTABATO CITY, November 27, 2009 --The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cotabato, Orlando B. Quevedo, OMI said the people begun to be shocked with news reports about a horrifying massacre through radio, text messages and word of mouth.

He said after a day, there was no complete and accurate reports on what happened along the stretch of national highway been Sharif Aguak and Kauran, Ampatuan, Maguindanao. read more »

VATICAN, Nov. 23, 2009-- Benedict XVI's Saturday audience with some 250 internationally renowned artists drew various reactions from the participants, most of them expressing appreciation for the Pope's steps toward dialogue.

In general, all agreed that this audience was a first step, as Polish film director and producer Krzysztof Zanussi acknowledged.

"This is our expectation: a bit more action on the part of the Church to take a step toward the world of entertainment, toward artists," said Zanussi.read more »

HONG KONG, November 24, 2009--Retired bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, has published a guide for Chinese Catholics to further explain Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral letter to them in 2007.

Five hundred copies of the 22-page booklet in Chinese will be distributed to all parishes here before the Sunday of Nov. 29. The text is also expected to be available soon on the diocese's website.

The guide highlights several main points of the papal letter and provides remarks and explanations by the 77-year-old cardinal.read more »

SEOUL, South Korea, November 25, 2009--Over 30,000 people have pledged to donate body organs through a Seoul archdiocesan organization this year, almost outstripping the total number of pledges it recorded over the last 20 years.

The One-Body One-Spirit (OBOS) movement has encouraged organ donations since 1989. It notes the sudden surge in pledges has come after Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan's corneas were donated upon his death last February, fulfilling one of his last wishes.read more »