The Vatican will officially open a family department for laity in September.
The new office will be in charge of pastoral care of the family and will take over from existing departments.
According to The Catholic Herald it will work on “the promotion of the life and apostolate of the lay faithful, for the pastoral care of the family and its mission according to God’s plan and for the protection and support of human life.”
The department will also encourage the “active and responsible presence of the laity in the advisory organs of governance present in the Church at the universal and particular levels.”
There is already a Pontifical Council for the Laity and a Pontifical Academy for Life, they will exist alongside the new body.
Pope Francis wants the council to pay special attention to young people as well as the poor and marginalised.
The body has been approved on a trial basis but the time period, name and staff of the new department have not been specified yet.
James Prentice, pastor at Life Church Lincoln runs a group especially aimed at over 50’s, and he was speaking on Premier’s News Hour after more than 1,000 people were asked by campaign group End Loneliness how they felt.
James Prentice said: “It’s a huge problem, and I think it’s the responsibility of many of us to try to break down some barriers – not only so that people will start talking about it, but also so that people can actually be given practical ways of making friends and meeting new people and combatting that loneliness.”
The report is warning that isolation has become an epidemic and claims that elderly people who are lonely are not speaking up about their experience.
One-in-ten of those over-65 who are asked (more than one-million people) feel chronically lonely all or most of the time, and 92% of them said they were scared to admit they are lonely.
The numbers:
1,000 people asked
92% afraid to say they are lonely
1/10 over 65’s are chronically lonely
Now, five charities, including Age UK and Independent Age, want it to be considered a health issue.
The report shows many older people are suffering in silence because they fear being negatively judged by others.
Mr Prentice said that if loneliness can be proven, people might listen more.
“If science can establish more of a link, that can make people take it more seriously. I think one of the issues is people will think often people who’re lonely are just being a bit needy or they’re just being people who are just trying to get others attention when maybe they don’t need it as much as they think they do,” he said.
“But if you can actually prove in some way actually this person is lonely, and their loneliness is having a serious impact on their health, I think it may make people take it more seriously.” … read more
Our Brethren at CBN want us to tell you about their video on fasting. CBN report that Scientists are once again discovering the health benefits of practices in the Bible, like fasting. A new study shows that fasting dramatically strengthens the immune system.
Hollister, CA — June 2, 2016 — Christian of He Died For Me Ministries dropped his fifth album, Conquerors on iTunes and Pandora this past March on Easter Sunday. The 16-track, full-length Christian Hip-Hop album is also available on the ministry’s official website for digital download.
Fans of Lecrae, NF, Beautiful Eulogy, Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, The Ambassador and TobyMac can expect a quality, unapologetic presentation of The Gospel of Jesus Christ in rap form.
Christian of He Died For Me Ministries
Christian’s latest release speaks on themes such as deliverance, freedom, waiting on the Lord and controversial topics like same-sex marriage, sin and “churchianity” among others.
The founding pastor of an evangelical church in Gilroy, CA recently stated of the album: “This album is really great. I can hear the message of The Gospel clearly and it sounds like you are definitely on to something. I don’t regularly listen to Rap, but this is quite good.” The album is laden with themes that speak to youth and adults alike. It hits close to home and presents Christianity in a real and authentic way.
Christian’s fifth album on the label He Died For Me Ministries is a timely piece of music aimed at reaching the lost and the saved alike. He pulls no punches while discussing controversial topics and lays out several faith-based cases for listeners to reflect upon. If you are looking for a new piece of Christian Hip-Hop without all the “fluff”, look no further.
About:
Christian’s music incorporates an unwavering commitment to Jesus Christ, evangelism and freedom. His music speaks to all generations and touches on topics such as deliverance, hope and Heaven. His Christian faith is exemplified throughout his work and is uncompromising in the face of political correctness. Christian is not afraid to call believers in the faith to action and urge listeners to stand for Truth.
An animated walkthrough of the Biblical Theme: “The Image of God”
The Bible Project is a non-profit creating animated videos that explain the narrative of the Bible. These videos are free to use for personal and educational purposes.
About the authors:
Tim Mackie is a Pastor of Door of Hope church and a Professor at Western Seminary.
Jon Collins is a founder of Epipheo and Sincerely Truman and a veteran explainer video producer.
Premier Christian report – Britain’s worst paedophile masqueraded as a devout Christian in order to gain access to children, it has emerged.
Loner, Richard Huckle, 30, has admitted an unprecedented number of child sex offences and faces multiple life sentences at the Old Bailey.
In court, it emerged he attended several churches in the UK before leaving to work as an English teacher among poor Christian communities in Kuala Lumpur.
He gained trust by pretending he was committed to God and used it to find young people to abuse.
Up to 200 children as young as six months were left alone in his care because parents believed he was a Christian missionary.
The freelance photographer from Ashford in Kent began the abuse on a gap year to south east Asia at the age of 19.
He went on to post a stream of pictures and video of himself raping his young victims which were shared worldwide on the dark web.
He even set up a crowd funding enterprise inviting other paedophiles to pay Bitcoins for access to images and was in the process of publishing a paedophile’s guide to abusing children in poverty-stricken areas, the court heard.
In discussions online, he bragged: “Impoverished kids are definitely much easier to seduce than middle class Western kids.”
Acting on information, Huckle was arrested by the National Crime Agency when he touched down at Gatwick Airport en route to spend Christmas at home with his family in 2014.
Prosecutor Brian O’Neill QC said Huckle’s computer equipment was seized and he was bailed on condition he return to his parents’ home.
Officers had also searched the home of Huckle’s parents.
He refused to answer officers’ questions, but the next day his mother asked him about the allegations and he admitted he had sex with children aged between three and 13.
She called police and begged them to arrest her son.
Mr O’Neill QC said: “His mother was both extremely upset and extremely angry. She and his father called the police and asked them to take their son away.
“Both have made witness statements in support of this prosecution.”
As well as the draft of Huckle’s paedophile manual, they found a “Pedopoints” ledger in which he awarded himself marks for acts of depravity with children.
A total of 191 children were mentioned in Huckle’s scorecard.
Huckle has admitted 71 child sex offences, …. read more
Earlier search teams in the area were reported to have sighted debris, including life jackets, from the plane.
“There have been finds south-east of Crete, inside the Cairo flight information area,” Greek army general staff spokesman Vassilis Beletsiotis told AFP news agency.
The search in seas south of the Greek island of Karpathos involves Greek and Egyptian naval forces, and the British Royal Air Force.
Sixty-six people were on board Flight MS804, most of them from Egypt and France. A Briton was among the passengers.
Of those on the plane, 56 were passengers, seven were crew members and three were security personnel.
Relatives of some of those on board are being flown from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to Cairo.
Flight MS804 left Charles de Gaulle at 23:09 local time on Wednesday (21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:15 local time on Thursday.
Media captionPanos Kammenos: The plane “executed a turn of 90 degrees, then a 360 degree turn right”
EgyptAir said the plane had been flying at 37,000ft (11,300m) when it disappeared from radar shortly after entering Egyptian airspace.
Greek aviation officials say air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot when he entered Greek airspace and everything appeared normal.
They tried to contact him again at 02:27 Cairo time, as the plane was set to enter Egyptian airspace, but “despite repeated calls, the aircraft did not respond”. Two minutes later it vanished from radar.
The relatives and friends of those on board the plane gathered at Cairo airport… … and at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport
Mr Kammenos said: “The picture we have at the moment on the accident as it emerges from the Greek air force operations centre is that the aircraft was approximately 10-15 miles inside the Egyptian FIR [flight information region] and at an altitude of 37,000 feet.
“It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward the right, dropping from 37,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet.”
Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi said: “Let’s not try to jump to the side that is trying to identify this as a technical failure – on the contrary.
“The situation may point – and I say ‘may’ because I don’t want to speculate and I don’t want to go to assumptions like others – but if you analyse the situation properly, the possibility of having a different action, or having a terror attack, is higher than the possibility of having a technical [fault].”
Whatever happened, it happened too quickly for the crew to raise the alarm.
Initially, the aircraft seemed to drop off the radar at 37,000 feet, suggesting a sudden break-up. It’s very rare for modern planes to simply break apart in mid air, but not impossible.
But then the Greek defence minister described the aircraft making sharp turns and dropping height quickly. Which suggests it was intact for longer.
Either way, it does not rule out either an accident, or something more sinister.
Even in the worst emergencies, pilots tell me they should have time to call for help, once they’ve got to grips with the problem. But not always.
French President Francois Hollande said he was keeping an open mind about the cause: “We will draw conclusions when we have the truth about what happened.
“Whether it was an accident, or whether it was – and it’s something that is on our minds – terrorism.”
Media captionIan Petchenik from Flightradar24 explains how planes are tracked
Flightradar24 listed details of the plane’s journey on Wednesday which showed it had flown from Asmara, in Eritrea, to Cairo, then on to Tunis, in Tunisia, before heading, via Cairo, to Paris.
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras told the BBC that Airbus A320s were regularly used for short-haul budget flights and had “an amazing safety record”.
In March, an EgyptAir plane was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus. The attacker later surrendered and all hostages were released. … Read More
In Isaiah 52 a messenger comes to tell the good news that God still reigns and that he is coming to bring his reign to earth. This video explores how Jesus saw himself as that messenger and as the King.
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Acting on information, Huckle was arrested by the National Crime Agency when he touched down at Gatwick Airport en route to spend Christmas at home with his family in 2014.
