Residents of two southern Ethiopian villages have reportedly been using bare hands to dig through dirt in search of landslide survivors in a remote, mountainous area southwest of the capital Addis Ababa.

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The World Health Organization is concerned about the possibility of an outbreak of the highly contagious polio virus in Gaza.

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Saint Birgitta was the daughter of UpplandÂ?s Lagman, Birger Petersson and his wife, Ingeborg, who was a member of the same clan as the reigning family. BirgittaÂ?s family was pious; her father went to confession every Friday and made long and arduous pilgrimages as far away as the Holy Land. BirgittaÂ?s mother died, leaving Birgitta, ten years old, Katharine, nine and a newborn baby boy, Israel. The children were sent to their maternal aunt for further education and care. It seems that as a ...

Pope Francis sends a message of condolences and prayers for the death of the former President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, the General Secretary of the Communist Party.

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During a special reception on the sidelines of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Cardinal Christophe Pierre underline the impact of supporting World Mission Sunday, which will be observed on October 20th, for more than 1,100 territories around the world that are struggling.

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VATICAN NEWS (CNS) -- In order to be compassionate and respond best to the needs of others, it is necessary to take time out to relax and not be anxious about getting things done, Pope Francis said.

It is also a "social injustice" when working parents hardly see their children because of long hours away from home, he said, before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square July 21. "In families, fathers and mothers should have time to share with their children, to let love grow within their family and in order not to fall into the dictatorship of doing."

The pope reflected on the day's Gospel reading from St. Mark (6:30-34) about Jesus telling the apostles to rest after their return from their mission of preaching and healing. However, when Jesus saw the vast crowd that had gathered, "his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things," the verse says.

The pope said, "On the one hand, there is an invitation to rest, and on the other, Jesus' compassion for the crowd." Resting and being compassionate "may seem like two incompatible things, while they actually go together."

"Only if we learn how to rest can we have compassion. Indeed, it is only possible to have a compassionate gaze, which knows how to respond to the needs of others, if our heart is not consumed by the anxiety of doing, if we know how to stop and how to receive the grace of God, in the silence of adoration," he said. 

There is a danger that "can threaten us when, for instance, our enthusiasm in carrying out our mission or our work, as well as the roles and tasks entrusted to us, make us fall victim to a kind of activism which is overly concerned with things to do and with results, and this is a bad thing," he said.

"It then happens that we become agitated and lose sight of what is essential. We risk exhausting our energies and falling into bodily and spiritual fatigue," the pope said.

A person's life, society in general and even the church in its pastoral work may often be "held prisoner by haste," he said. "Brothers and sisters, let us beware of the dictatorship of doing!"

This can also happen out of necessity in families, he added, when one or both parents have to earn a living and sacrifice time that could have been spent with the family, for example, having to leave before the kids are awake and getting home after they are asleep.

"This is a social injustice," he said. "Let us think about what we can do to help people who are forced to live in this way."

Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to ask themselves: "Am I able to stop during my day? Am I capable of taking a moment to be with myself and with the Lord, or am I always in a hurry, in a constant hurry for things to do?"

He asked the faithful to find an "inner" place of rest even in the midst of a busy day and to be compassionate towards others.

Wrapping up their annual Synod in Baghdad, the Iraqi bishops express their deep concern over the impact of the war in Gaza on the entire region, and reaffirm two-state solution as the only way for a lasting peace.

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In "L’Osservatore Romano", the deputy director of Vatican media, Alessandro Gisotti, writes on Joe Biden and the value of saying farewell. The decision by the American president recalls the decision made by Nelson Mandela in 1999 when he chose not to run for a second term as South Africa’s president.

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Fifteen months of ferocious civil war in Sudan has killed over 150,000 people and forced more than nine million to flee their homes and their lands.

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St. Mary Magdalene is one of the greatest saints of the Bible and a legendary example of God's mercy and grace. The precise dates of her birth and death are unknown, but we do know she was present with Christ during his public ministry, death and resurrection. She is mentioned at least a dozen times in the Gospels. Mary Magdalene has long been regarded as a prostitute or sexually immoral in western Christianity, but this is not supported in the scriptures. It is believed she was a Jewish woman ...