South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, yet the border issues still have not been resolved. Central to that dispute is Abyei, a border region between the two countries. Under a 2005 peace plan, it was supposed to have a referendum in 2011 to decide whether it would become part of the North or the South.
In his first seven homilies, Pope Francis repeatedly talked about mercy and grace, recounting anecdotes about asking God for forgiveness and ensuring people that God always is ready to welcome them back.
Marriage is “a lifelong bond between one man and one woman,” said the three bishops of New Mexico in a statement issued March 27, the date the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
While the medical world makes technological advancements, it must not forget the power of love and affection in helping those with autism and their families, said Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski.
Women have a privileged role in the church because of their ability to pass on the faith through love, Pope Francis said.
Lying prostrate on the floor before the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. The pope presided at the service March 29 to commemorate Christ’s death on the cross.
As Georgetown University law professor Michael Gottesman put it, the people who lined up outside the Supreme Court for days to be able to watch a legal argument about the validity of same-sex marriage must have been surprised to find half the court’s time devoted to debating legal standing, jurisdiction and states’ rights versus federalism.
Pope Francis became the first pope to tour the excavated necropolis where St. Peter is buried, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
An Italian priest who died in a Nazi concentration camp and two victims of Soviet-bloc regimes during the Cold War were among those recognized on March 27 as martyrs by Pope Francis.