During the month of May, Catholics around the world honor the Virgin Mary in a practice dating back to the 13th century. But at one shrine to Mary in Harissa, Lebanon, it isn’t just Catholics coming to pray.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon has drawn Muslim visitors since it opened in 1908, said the shrine’s rector, Father Younen Obeid, in a recent video produced by Catholic News Service. They come as tourists, but also to pray and participate in Christian ceremonies at the site.
“All of [the Muslim visitors] have big respect for Mary,” Obeid said.
This respect stems directly from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, which references Mary 37 times — even more occasions than the Bible. The 19th chapter of the Quran is in fact named after Mary and tells the story of her life and how she came to give birth to Jesus, though Islam does not hold the belief of Jesus’s divinity. Continue reading…
President Obama came face to face with the horror of nuclear war Friday in a somber visit to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to tour the site of the atomic bombing 71 years ago that killed tens of thousands in an instant and ushered in the nuclear age.
As thousands prepare to make trips across the Channel for the bank holiday weekend, British motorists were advised to cancel trips to France today as fuel pumps ran dry and violent industrial action against employment reform spread across the country.
On Saturday, Pope Francis met with the president of the Republic of Singapore, marking 35 years of diplomatic relations between the Southeast Asian country and the Holy See, and the first ever state visit by a Singaporean president to a Pope.
Christians should not talk to people about their faith unless they are actively invited to do so, the 
“The review will be chaired by Professor Mona Siddiqui, an internationally renowned expert in Islamic and inter-religious studies who was appointed OBE for her services to inter-faith relations. Professor Siddiqui will lead a panel of experts that includes experienced family law barrister Sam Momtaz, retired high court judge Sir Mark Hedley and specialist family law lawyer Anne Marie Hutchinson OBE QC. The panel will be advised by 2 religious and theological experts – Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi and Imam Qari Asim. They will ensure the panel has a full and thorough understanding of the religious and theological issues relating to specific aspects of Sharia Law, and the way it is applied.” –
The Vatican’s liturgy chief has called on priests to celebrate Mass facing east.
“President Calvin Coolidge warned in a speech given May 15, 1926, at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia: “But there is another … recent development … the greatly disproportionate influence of organized minorities. Artificial propaganda, paid agitators, selfish interests, all impinge upon members of legislative bodies to force them to represent special elements rather than the great body of their constituency. When they are successful, minority rule is established. … The result is an extravagance on the part of the government which is ruinous to the people and a multiplicity of regulations and restrictions for the conduct of all kinds of necessary business, which becomes little less than oppressive. …” –
Hundreds of pastors congregated in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss America’s increasingly secular culture and what the church’s role should be in casting out its demons.
RIO DE JANEIRO