Missionaries of the World

Pope Benedict XVI has thanked the Catholic faithful for their support in his final general audience before his resignation on Thursday. He recalled a papacy full of both joy and difficulty as he held his final general audience Wednesday the eve of his retirement as leader of the world's Roman Catholics. Around 150,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square to bid farewell to the Pope. Cheers filled St. Peter's Square as Benedict rode his special Popemobile amid the crowds who had started gathering early in the morning. National flags fluttered alongside banners bearing the simple word "Grazie," or "thanks."

The Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia has been named temporary successor to Cardinal Keith O'Brien who resigned this week after the Observer reported allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards three priests and a former priest. Philip Tartaglia will govern the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh until a permanent successor is appointed. Pope Benedict XVI named him as Apolistic administrator after Cardinal O'Brien stepped down from the post on Monday.

Dr.Peramangalam Porinju Job, known as Dr.P P Job, a prominent Christian preacher and referred as Indian Billy Graham was born on January 19, 1945 at Kunnamkulam in Kerala, India. He made a missionary tour over 129 countries of the world, was proved truly, he was a global missionary. He was the President of the "International Christian Association" over 33 years, founded by Rev.Richard Wurmbrand, as a publisher and distributor of Christian literature worldwide and the founder of "The Love in Action Society." Name: Peramangalam Porinju Job Born : January 19, 1945 at Kunnamkulam in Kerala, India Founded : Michael Job Centre Missionary Work: 129 Countries including India Died: August 19, 2012 near Budapest, Hungary Peramangalam Porinju Job's early life He was born on January 19, 1945 at Kunnamkulam in Kerala, India to the devout Christian parents. He had a challenging childhood. He learned basics from his mother. After finished his schooling, he had...

Papal Conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals gathered to elect new Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. The pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and head of the Roman Catholic Church. It has been the procedure for choosing the pope for more than half of the time the church has been in existence and is the oldest on going method for choosing the leader of an institution.

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to officially resign on February 28, 2013. He will become only the second pope to resign of his own free will in the Church's 2,000-year history. About 117 cardinals eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave, but could decrease for health reasons. The conclave is expected to bring together the world's "cardinal electors" and meets in secret in the Sistine Chapel until a two-thirds majority is found in favour of a candidate. It is scheduled to start between March 15 and 19, 2013 though the pope may call for an earlier conclave.

Evangelist Pradeep, (30) and Chowdamma, (60), are the latest victims of persecution of Christians in Karnataka by the fundamentalist Hindus who oppose their mission which include fearlessly demonstrating...faith in Christ's teachings said advocacy group Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). "We at GCIC were able to bail out our brother Pradeep and his mother", GCIC representative Regi Abraham told. "They were released February 11," after three days behind bars, he said. The exact amount of the bail was not immediately announced. Both Christians, who apparently only use one name, are part of the Karnataka Evangelical Ministry of Mysore, a mission group.

Four Christian missionaries were arrested in Benghazi, Libya on suspicion of printing books about Christianity and for distributing Biblical literature, an offence that could carry the death penalty. “The four were arrested on Tuesday at a publishing house where they were printing thousands of books that called for conversion to Christianity,” security official Hussein Bin Hmeid said. "Preaching is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100 per cent Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security."

Pastors across Nagaland are working day and night in an effort to ensure clean assembly elections in the State on February 23. The priest, all members of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), hold prayers and go for door-to-door campaign to create awareness among the people about corrupt practices being adopted during the polls. Rev.Weyiete Lohe is one such Priest who preaches "One person, one vote." "Elect the right leader. Don't be influenced by money and fear no one. Please do not sell your vote. It is a sin," he says.

Five Cardinals from India will participate in the conclave at the Vatican in the 'Holy Week' beginning from March 24 and vote to elect the next Pope. Only 117 of the total of 206 Cardinals of the Universal Catholic Church will be eligible to vote in the conclave to elect the 266th successor of Saint Peter as they are below the age of 80 years, Deputy Secretary General and Spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council Fr Stephen Alathara said.

The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev.Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and other members of the WCC met with the United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson on February 12, 2013 in New York. Dr.Tveit and Eliasson discussed the many conflicts and divisions around the world, including North and South Korea, the Middle East region, particularly Syria and Israel-Palestine.

Saint Gonsalo Garcia (1557–1597) was the first Roman Catholic Saint from India, born in 1557 in the Western Coastal Town of Vasai, which is a historical village North of Mumbai. He hailed from the Bassein Fort when the town was under Portuguese colonial rule. He was a Roman Catholic Franciscan member from India. He was beatified by Pope Urban VIII on September 14, 1627. He was declared Saint by Pope Pius IX on June 08, 1862. Name: Gonsalo Garcia Born : February 05, 1557 at Bassein, Maharastra, India Joined: Jesuit Ministry Missionary Work: Japan and Philippines Crucified : February 05, 1597 at Nagasaki, Japan Gonsalo Garcia's early History Gonsalo Garcia was born as Gundi Slavus Garcia on February 05, 1557 to a Portuguese father and a Canarese, Indian mother who resided at the Western Coast, in Bassein. He was educated by Fr.Sebastian Goncalves, a Jesuit Priest working in the college near Bassein Fort at Vasai. He studied Grammar, Philosophy and Roman History ...

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has brought words of respect and appreciation from the General Secretary of World Council of Churches, Rev.Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. "We have to respect fully the decision of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to resign," Tveit said from New York. "With deep respect I have seen how he has carried the responsibility and burdens of his ministry in his advanced age, in a very demanding time for the church" Dr Tveit said. "I express my appreciation for his love and commitment to the church and to the ecumenical movement," Tveit added. "Let us pray that God bless him in this moment and this phase of his life, and that God will guide and bless the Roman Catholic Church in a very important time of transition." "Pope Benedict knows the WCC well," Dr.Tveit said, referring to the time in the late 1960s and early 1970s when as a professor of theology at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, he was a member of the...

Senior members of a nineteenth century church, built for the British army, have vowed to get back its lost property. The St. John's Church in Hyderabad, which was built in 1813 on a 100-acre campus, now stands on a strip of land which is less than one fifth of its original size. The church has donated a substantial portion of land for road widening activities and setting up of a park. The Church of South India (CSI), which has the 200-year-old Anglican property, would showcase its history during its year-long bicentenary celebrations starting after the lent season in April.

A mob of about 100 Hindu activities violently attacked a peaceful gathering of Christian believers on Friday, February 08, 2013 in Rajnandgaon village, about 70 kms from Raipur, capital of Chattisgarh State during the meeting. About 30 Christian believers were injured. The Rajnandgaon City Police has registered a case against the believers and the church.

Citing advanced years and infirmity, but showing characteristic tough-mindedness and unpredictability, Pope Benedict XVI shocked Roman Catholics on Monday by saying that he would resign on February 28, 2013. Speaking in Latin to a small gathering of Cardinals at the Vatican, he said that after examining his conscience "before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise" of leading the world's one billion Roman Catholics. He is becoming the first pope to do so in six centuries.

Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples of the Vatican released 'Early Christians of 21st Century –Stories of Incredible Christian witness from Kandhamal Jungles' written by journalist Anto Akkara at the silver jubilee of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) at the Marian Shrine of Vailankanni, Tamilnadu, India on February 10, 2013. The book contains the stories of Christian faith amid persecution during the 2008 anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal, Orissa.

Corruption in the police force and local Government in Orissa favours violence against the poor as well as ethnic and religious minorities, this according to Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). He spoke as violence against Dalits, Tribals and minority groups, especially Christians, gets worse and the prospects for justice get dimmer. The latest episode occurred in Gajapathi when police on November 14 gunned down five people, four men and a woman, whom they mistook to be Maoist rebels. Since then, the victims' families have tried to obtain justice and compensation, to no avail.

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals has written to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari asking for the release of Asia Bibi(42) who is a Pakistani Christian woman, who was convicted of controversial blasphemy law by a Pakistani Court, receiving a sentence of death by hanging in 2009. The Cardinal said Zardari's pardon of Asia Bibi would have an enormous significance and would greatly promote dialogue and reconciliation between Muslims and Christians.

India Post released a stamp featuring Shrine Basilica of Vailankanni. Our Lady of Vailankanni also known as Our Lady of Good Health is a celebrated Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary believed to have appeared in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India. Traditional beliefs surrounding the Marian apparition is held to have occurred to a young boy delivering milk goods to the neighborhood when the Virgin Mary, carrying a child Jesus, is said to have appeared and asked him for some milk.

Nineteen Christian children who were to be sold to Islamic boarding schools ('madrassas') in Bangladesh have been rescued; a religious rights group said Thursday, February 07. Traffickers lied to the children's parents saying they would take the children to Christian boarding schools in the capital Dhaka, when in fact, they were intending to sell the children to the various madrassas, explained International Christian Concern (ICC). Students from Dhaka University reportedly discovered the children, ages 5 to 12, and rescued them Sunday, February 03.

General registration and media accreditation is now open for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly to be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from October 30 to November 08, 2013. The WCC assembly is the most diverse international gathering of Christians in the world and meets once every seven to eight years to set the future agenda of the council, elect governance officials and speak with a common and public voice on behalf of churches around the world.

On the third day of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), the Member-Bishops are reflecting and deliberating on 'Service'. "Service is a core value to the Church and us, as Disciples of Christ cannot sacrifice it for anything else", said Oswald Cardinal Gracias at the homily he delivered to the participants of the XXV Plenary Assembly of the CCBI dedicated to the theme, "Church a serving community". Every organization or institution has some core values. Those core values are so basic that these organizations or institutions claim that they have those values as their very foundation.

The Book of Genesis "is not intended as a manual of the natural sciences; it wants to help us understand the authentic and profound truth of things" that the world originates "from the eternal reason of God, who continues to sustain the universe, "that all men are equal because they are all equally made of "dust" that the "breath" breathed on them by God motivates " the inviolability of human dignity against any attempt to evaluate the person in accordance with utilitarian criteria or those of power. " This is what the sentence, "the Creator of heaven and earth", contained in the "Creed" implies and to which Benedict XVI continues to dedicate his general audience catechesis.

Fr John Prakash, an Indian priest assassinated in 2008 by a group of Hindu extremist, will be recognised as National Martyr, this according to Gita Rasailee, Coordinator of the probe committee for martyrs and the disappeared. He is the first martyr from the country's Catholic minority. The latter's aim is to come up with a list of people worthy of this title. The Catholic priest is the first victim of religious hatred to be recognised in the predominantly Hindu nation.