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Africans urged to be ‘apostles of reconciliation’
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WORLD | NATION BRIEFS |
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Youths at conference honor Christ with electronic ‘holy shoutout’ INDIANAPOLIS (CNS)—More than 2,000 years after his birth, Christ the King was honored in a historic way with a massive electronic “holy shoutout” via texts, emails and tweets sent simultaneously from cellphones Nov. 19 by 23,000 participants at the National Catholic Youth Conference and National Catholic Collegiate Conference. It was a fun and faith-filled way for the Catholic youths and young adults to honor God and conclude the 31st biennial national conference, held Nov. 17-19 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and host of the conference, asked the teenagers, collegians and all attending the closing Mass to text, email or tweet the words “Called to Glory,” the conference theme, to family members and friends throughout the United States at the conclusion of the vibrant liturgy. Murmurs began to spread through the quiet football stadium when Bishop Coyne surprised the conference participants by asking them to turn on their cellphones at the end of Mass. “For over two hours now, we have turned this space into a holy place where holy people have listened to holy words and done holy things and received holy gifts,” Bishop Coyne said. “I want you all to dig out your cellphones ... and turn them on because we’re going to do a holy shoutout. I don’t think this has ever been done ... with a crowd like this, and maybe the first time at a big Catholic gathering. I want you to type in ‘Called to Glory.’”
Vatican newspaper says Shakespeare was secret Catholic VATICAN CITY (CNS)—There is “little doubt” that William Shakespeare was a Catholic who was forced to hide his faith in Protestant England while leaving hints about his faith throughout his vast body of work, said an opinion piece in the Vatican newspaper. Taking a cue from renewed speculation about Shakespeare’s true identity sparked by the film “Anonymous,” L’Osservatore Romano wrote, “There may be questions regarding his identity, but not his religious faith.” The Nov. 18 op-ed piece said that this view was at least partly shared by the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, who said in a debate at a literary festival last May that Shakespeare “probably had a Catholic background and had Catholic friends.” It also pointed out that shortly after the Bard of Avon’s recorded death in 1616, Anglican Archdeacon Richard Davies wrote, “He died a papist,” a pejorative term Protestants used to refer to Catholics. The editorial said that while there is legitimate debate about who was truly behind the Shakespeare name, “there is little doubt about another question regarding the life of Shakespeare: his convinced adherence to the Catholic faith.” Shakespeare’s work, it said, “is full of open references to the Catholic religion.” These references are especially evident in the play “Hamlet,” it said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS)—In a wide-ranging document on the Church’s future in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to become “apostles of reconciliation, justice and peace” across the troubled continent. The key to the Church’s mission in Africa, the pope said, is for all Catholics to know the faith and the Church’s social doctrine well, then witness it in daily life. [
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