MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (CNS) — In the final leg of his apostolic journey to Africa, Pope Leo XIV struck a more measured tone, delivering a message to the faithful while navigating one of the continent’s most politically sensitive environments. Spending less than 48 hours in Equatorial Guinea — a country of roughly 1.8 million people…
Reading 1 Acts 9:1-20 Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his…
Reading 1 Acts 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the…
Reading 1 Acts 8:1b-8 There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church; entering house after house and dragging out…
LUANDA, Angola (CNS) — When more than 100 villagers’ homes were torn down because they sat atop mineral-rich land, it was the Catholic Church that went to court. The case, brought by a commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, resulted in new homes for displaced families in the southern…
Reading I Acts 7:51—8:1a Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous…