St. Theophanes was born at Samothrace, Greece around the year 759. He was orphaned while still a young child but he was left a large inheritance. As a young man, Theophanes' guardian coerced him to marry but he and his wife vowed themselves to celibacy. They lived together for several years but eventually Theophanes' wife joined a religious community and he became a hermit.Theophanes' wisdom and holiness were quickly noticed by others and he used his wealth to form two monasteries out of the men who sought his counsel. Theophanes became abbot of one of these monasteries and gained a greater reputation for his virtues. While he lived in the monastery, Theophanes worked to write a history of the Christian world starting at the end of the Diocletian persecution to the early ninth century. It is for this work that he gained the nickname "Chronicler."During the time Theophanes lived, the iconoclast heresy was causing problems in the Church. The emperor of Constantinople, who encouraged the destruction of icons, tried to gain Theophanes support through subterfuge and coercion but he remained faithful to Rome. Eventually, this fidelity got Theophanes arrested and imprisoned. He died in prison around the year 818.

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2010 / 11:03 pm (CNA).- In a new book consisting of reflections based on the 2008 Synod on the Word of God, the secretary for the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, writes that homilies should not last more than eight minutes.

Vienna, Austria, Mar 11, 2010 / 08:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After media outlets misinterpreted an article by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn to say that he is questioning the Church's rule of priestly celibacy, several high ranking churchmen have spoken out in praise of celibacy as a gift. They also dismissed the idea that celibacy is connected to pedophilia.

Madrid, Spain, Mar 11, 2010 / 06:49 pm (CNA).- Dozens of Spanish women protested at the country's Ministry of Health on Monday, the International Day for Women, and announced the formation of a Union of Mothers" to stand up for the rights of stay-at-home moms.

A former State Department official points out that while President Obama has claimed that religious freedom is a priority for his administration, he has not acted on that claim. The ...

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2010 / 05:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- This coming Sunday afternoon the Holy Father will pay a visit to a Lutheran Church in Rome. The much anticipated appearance is the fruit of an invitation made in 2008 on the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit there.

A Protestant missionary in Iran who was arrested on February 2 on charges of proselytizing has been tortured and is being threatened with execution, his wife reports. Rev. Wilson Issavi ...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of condolence to the Al Azhar University in Cairo upon the death of the institution's longtime leader, Sheik Mohammend Sayyed Tantawi. Cardinal ...

The Israeli government coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face a political crisis over the construction of new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. Leaders ...

The man accused of gunning down a pro-life activist in Michigan has told a jury that he shot the man, James Pouillon, because he was disturbed by Pouillon's graphic signs depicting the ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands, Mar 11, 2010 / 03:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Following meetings between leaders of religious orders in Holland and members of the Dutch Bishops' Conference, the Dutch Church announced that it will seek an "external, broad and independent" inquiry into cases of possible sexual abuses in religious schools. They asked for forgiveness and assured that they will listen to victims.

Speaking on March 11, Pope Benedict XVI called upon all priests "generously to dedicate themselves to hearing sacramental confessions, and courageously to guide their flock not to conform ...

Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has said that the broadening sex-abuse scandal indicates a need to re-think the training that priests receive. The Austrian prelate called for a ...

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2010 / 02:52 pm (CNA).- The secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Archbishop Mario Toso, remarked this week that, "man's happiness and complete fulfillment depend on religious freedom," adding that religion's "public value" must be recognized.

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2010 / 02:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope remembered the Grand Imam and Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Dr. Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, after his death on Wednesday. Sheikh Tantawi was instrumental maintaining relations between the Catholic Church and the Muslim world and was the head of the highest Islamic religious authority in Egypt, the al-Azhar.

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2010 / 12:59 pm (CNA).- Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi responded to an open letter this week sent to him by Christine de Vollmer, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. His response, in which he called one of de Vollmer's claims against him "deceptive" and "calumnious," was discussed in a new column by Vatican analyst Sandro Magister.

(11 Mar 10 - RV) Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. has sent the following English-language message, in the Pope's name, to Sheikh ...»

(11 Mar 10 - RV) At midday today, the Pope received participants in an annual course on the "internal forum" organised by the Apostolic ...»

(11 Mar 10 - RV) At midday today, the Pope received participants in an annual course on the "internal forum" organised by the Apostolic Penitentiary. By participating in the course, he told them, "you have shown the pressing need to dedicate deeper study to a subject that is essential for the ministry and the life of priests". 00:02:09:22 Benedict XVI recalled how this year's course coincides with the current Year for Priests, dedicated to St. John Mary Vianney, "who heroically and fruitfully exercised the ministry of Reconciliation. ... From the saintly 'Cure of Ars' we priests can learn not only a limitless trust in the Sacrament of Penance which leads us to reinstate it as the focus of our pastoral concerns, but also the method of 'the dialogue of salvation' which must be part thereof", he said. "Awareness of one's own limits and the need to turn to Divine Mercy in order to ask forgiveness, to convert the heart and to find support on the path of saintliness, are fundamentals in the life of priests. Only someone who has himself experienced greatness can convincingly announce and administer the Mercy of God", the Holy Father explained. The current cultural context, characterised by "a hedonistic and relativist mentality which tends to remove God from the horizon of life, does not facilitate our acquisition of a clear picture of reference values, and does not help us to discern good from evil or to develop a correct sense of sin". This, the Pope noted, is not very different from the period in which St. John Mary Vianney lived, marked as it was by "a mentality hostile to the faith, as expressed by certain forces that even sought to prevent the exercise of the priestly ministry. "In these circumstances, the saintly 'Cure of Ars' made 'the church his home' in order to lead men and women to God", the Pope added, "and he appeared to his contemporaries to be an evident sign of God that he encouraged many penitents to come to his confessional". Thus, the Holy Father went on, "it is necessary for priests to live their own response to vocation 'exaltedly', because only someone who daily becomes living and clear presence of the Lord can arouse a sense of sin in the faithful, give them courage and stimulate their desire for forgiveness from God". "The 'crisis' in the Sacrament of Penance, which is often spoken of, is an appeal addressed first and foremost to priests and to their great responsibility to educate the people of God in the radical demands of the Gospel. In particular, it calls on them generously to dedicate themselves to hearing sacramental confessions, and courageously to guide their flock not to conform itself to this world, but to make choices that go against the tide, avoiding deals and compromises". Finally, Benedict XVI invited priests to open a "dialogue of salvation" with their penitents, as suggested by the "Cure of Ars". A dialogue that, "arising from the certainty of being loved by God, helps man to recognise his own sin and progressively to introduce himself into a stable process of conversion of heart, which leads to the radical rejection of evil and to a life lived in accordance with God's wishes".

(11 Mar 10 - RV)The Vatican’s representative to the United nations in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, toldthe 13th session of the Human ...»