1+ hour, 53+ min ago (524+ words) November 30, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 30, 2025 / 04:50 am Pope Leo XIV dedicated the final morning of his visit to Turkey on Sunday to strengthening ties with the Armenian Apostolic Church, thanking God for "the courageous Christian witness of the Armenian people throughout history, often amid tragic circumstances." The pope addressed the faithful at the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Istanbul, highlighting the deepening relationship between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church and recalling key milestones in their modern ecumenical journey. The visit to the cathedral, seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, formed part of a day marked by prayer, dialogue, and reflection as the pope concluded the Turkey leg of his first international apostolic journey, which continues next in Lebanon. While the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is autonomous in its internal governance, it recognizes the…...

1+ hour, 59+ min ago (939+ words) November 30, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 30, 2025 / 04:00 am Advent begins this year on Sunday, Nov. 30. Most Catholics " even those who don't often go to Mass " know that Advent involves a wreath with candles, possibly a "calendar" of hidden chocolates, and untangling strings of Christmas lights. But Advent is much more than that. Here's an explainer of what Advent is really about. The people of Israel waited for generations for the promised Messiah to arrive. Their poetry, their songs and stories, and their religious worship focused on an awaited savior who would come to them to set them free from captivity and to lead them to the fulfillment of all that God had promised. Israel longed for a Messiah, and John the Baptist, who came before Jesus, promised that the Messiah was coming and could be found in…...

16+ hour, 46+ min ago (886+ words) By'Sumon Corraya for CNA November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print EWTN News, Nov 29, 2025 / 15:30 pm Rashida Begum still remembers the day her life changed forever: Feb. 2, 2000, when her husband, Mojid Kaguchi, went to catch crabs in the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest in southern Bangladesh. Hours later, she heard the news " a tiger had taken him. "My husband and five others went deep into the forest," Begum told Catholic News Agency. "A roaring tiger attacked one of them. Mojid tried to save his friend, hitting the tiger with a knife. The tiger let go of his friend and grabbed Mojid instead." The tiger dragged Mojid into the forest. His friends never found him alive. "After searching, we found only his head and two legs," Begum said. "The tiger ate the rest." Begum was just 25 then, a mother of two. Married…...

18+ hour, 55+ min ago (587+ words) By'Kelsey Wicks for CNA November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Denver, Colorado, Nov 29, 2025 / 12:36 pm The First Sunday of Advent 2025 is tomorrow, Nov. 30, less than four weeks before Christmas this year, and while the Church provides this time to allow you to be caught by the joy of the Incarnation, you can be easily caught by surprise that it is Christmas. To help remedy this surprise, the Church provides songs, signs, and symbols to enter into the season of Advent more fruitfully. Here are three ways the Church teaches us about the meaning of the season: The commingled darkness and hope that God will fulfill his promises, a theme characteristic of Advent, deepens with songs like the Spanish carol "Alepun." The'lyrics'of "Alepun" move the faithful into an experience of waiting with a pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary while the rhythm and…...

20+ hour, 28+ min ago (437+ words) A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, December 1, 2025, the First Sunday of Advent. November 29, 2025 Carl E. Olson The Dispatch 0 Print Readings: " Is 2:1-5 " Ps 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 " Rom 13:11-14 " Mt 24:37-44 Perhaps you've never thought of it in that way. But the readings for this first Sunday of Advent are revealing. I say "revealing" because the word "apocalypse", from the Greek word apokalupsis, means "to reveal" or "to unveil". Unfortunately, it has become primarily associated with destruction and violence. But even while that understanding is somewhat accurate, it only hits part of the target. A big problem, as Monsignor Ronald Knox pointed out, is simply this: "We want Our Lord to come, but not just yet." Like Augustine, we find ourselves torn between wanting to fully commit ourselves to Christ while also holding on to those things that keep us from him: "Give me chastity and…...

20+ hour, 58+ min ago (1758+ words) November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency The Dispatch 6 Print Pope Leo XIV finished the third day of his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon with a Mass at Volkswagen Arena, a soccer stadium in Istanbul's Maslak neighborhood. The Holy Father marked the day in part by joining Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for a declaration pledging continued dialogue aimed at restoring full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The two leaders also participated in a Doxology together. In a touching moment at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul on Nov. 29, a child eagerly awaited and received the blessing of Pope Leo XIV. The Holy Father explained in his address: "When we look into the eyes of God, we discover that He chose the path of humility and came down among us. This is the way of the Lord, and we are…...

21+ hour, 12+ min ago (525+ words) By'Elias Turk for CNA November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 29, 2025 / 11:20 am Pope Leo XIV marked the start of Advent on Saturday with an appeal for unity and peace, telling thousands gathered for Mass in Istanbul that Christians "journey as if on a bridge that connects earth to Heaven," keeping their eyes "fixed on both shores" until they are united "in the house of the Father." The pope celebrated Mass on Nov. 29 at the Volkswagen Arena, a large multipurpose venue within Istanbul's Uniq cultural complex. The liturgy, held on the eve of the Feast of St. Andrew, patron of Turkey, took place during the third day of his first international apostolic trip, which has brought him to Turkey and will soon continue on to Lebanon. In his'homily, the pope reflected on the beginning of Advent, saying it…...

21+ hour, 21+ min ago (524+ words) By'Elias Turk for CNA November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 29, 2025 / 10:07 am Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople said on Saturday they are "deeply alarmed by the current international situation," issuing a joint appeal for peace. The appeal took place during the pope's first international trip, a journey that has taken him to Turkey and will continue on to Lebanon. The two leaders signed a'joint declaration'at the Palace of the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul. The text rejects the use of religion to justify violence, urges global efforts toward peace, supports cooperation among believers of different faiths, and entrusts a suffering world to God with renewed hope in the Holy Spirit. The pope and the patriarch, who is considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox bishops, reaffirmed their shared commitment to dialogue aimed…...

21+ hour, 32+ min ago (258+ words) November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print CNA Staff, Nov 29, 2025 / 08:30 am The papal plane set to fly Pope Leo XIV from Turkey to Lebanon on Sunday is one of thousands of Airbus A320 aircraft affected by a computer issue. Around 6,000 Airbus planes were grounded this weekend after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers, according to the BBC. For most of the affected aircraft, the issue could be resolved with a software update, but around 900 planes, including the papal plane, needed onboard computers physically replaced. According to Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni, a plane arrived in Istanbul from Rome on Saturday with a technician and the replacement computer for Pope Leo's ITA Airways A320neo. Leo is scheduled to take a two-hour flight from Istanbul to Beirut around midday on Nov. 30 for…...

1+ day, 2+ hour ago (1746+ words) By'Bryan Lawrence Gonsalves for CNA November 29, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print EWTN News, Nov 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). Flores hosts several seminaries, most clustered around Maumere on the island's northern coast. Religious congregations including the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), the Somascan Fathers, the Rogationists, the Vocationists, and the Carmelites all operate seminaries there, creating a dense network of vocational formation rarely found elsewhere in Asia. Archbishop Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD, of Ende and a native of Flores, stressed the island's importance not just for the Indonesian Church but for dioceses and religious congregations worldwide. "Many of the alumni of these seminaries are working outside the country," he noted, highlighting the island's contribution to the global clergy. A thriving minor seminary system also feeds this pipeline, which currently has 650 students enrolled at the junior and senior high school level. "Once…...