Mario Cuomo Dies, Equality Campaigner Warns of Muslim Schools & More…

 

VATICAN CITY

Fireworks over Vatican City! — Pope Francis slams corruption in Rome in New Year’s Eve homily
— Exploding verbal fireworks were witnessed on New Year’s Eve as Pope Francis vigorously denounced corruption in Rome, disclosing a "mafia-like" organization within the halls of the city’s government. The Pope’s latest tirade followed his denunciation of the Curia on Dec. 22 when he accused the priests, bishops and cardinals who run the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church of suffering from
"spiritual Alzheimer’s" among a list of other "ailments" 
CHRISTIAN TIMES  VATICAN INSIDER  REUTERS

 

Reject slavery to sin:
 Pope Francis — This “slavery” of sin, said Pope Francis, reduces time to the mere “moment, preventing us from fully and truly living in the present, for it empties the past and closes the door to the future, to eternity” 
CNA

 

Georg Ratzinger arrives at Vaican to visit Pope Emeritus — The elder brother of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, says his famous sibling
"feels freer and more relaxed" then ever before 
CWR

 

15 million added to Catholic Church 
CATHOLIC HERALD

 

Francis off to Philippines on January 15 
RAPPLER

 

NORTH AMERICA

The New America: Parents starve 22-day-old baby to death — Baby dies in car seat as parents gorge themselves in restaurant 
LIFE NEWS

 

To black America: "It’s time to build up the army" and go "to the gun range" — Malik Shabazz 
BB

 

 

Crazed Massachusetts 
woman slashes police with metal crucifix after writing "666" all over church building 
CATHOLIC CULTURE

 

How the 21st century church in America resolves employee disputes — American church conduct hit a new low this week as a Florida-based church took to gun-fighting to resolve its staff disputes 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

LAPD: Violent crime at highest levels in 12 years 
BB

 

The New America: 
Florida man cuts off mother’s head on New Year’s Eve 
CNN

 

Atheist group whining for an apology from Alabama school over video — An atheist group is requesting an apology from a local university in Alabama after the school’s chancellor released a YouTube video that speaks of religion and democracy 
CHRISTIAN TIMES

 

12 victories for religious liberty in 2014 
CHARISMA

 

NFL players give away 500 Bibles over the holiday season 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Hundred year old South Carolina Nun Mari Gri dies — Nun who began hospital chapel passes away 
TDN 

 

LATIN AMERICA

Mexican investigators covered-up execution of cartel gunmen by soldiers 
BB

 

Venezuela nun asks God to make government ministers "disappear" — A Venezuelan Catholic nun asked for “God’s grace” to disappear members of the Bolivarian government in a Twitter message sent to the Minister of Communication 
TELESUR

 

Chicago-born nun fighting AIDS in El Salvador one village at a time — Annel, 74, who entered the Roman Catholic Maryknoll religious order at age 18 and became a medical doctor, arrived in El Salvador in 1993 
NEW AMERICA

 

ISRAEL

US and Israel criticize Palestinian pressure ploy — Both the United States and Israel are criticizing a decision by the Palestinians to turn up the pressure on Israel by applying for membership in the International Criminal Court so they can accuse Israel of war crimes 
CBN

 

Jew condemns ‘holocaust’ of Christians in Middle East — Well-known Jewish cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen says "Christian communities are being slaughtered and murdered and are being driven out of their homelands. There is wholesale ethnic cleansing going on in the Middle East today, and the objective is to wipe out Christianity. And what is the response of the Western leaders? To simply look the other way" 
CBN

 

 

Israel’s Bedouin school flourishing in Negev desert — The Al-Sayed Technological School provides education to tribal children who weren’t able to attend high school before, and has a 0% dropout rate 
YNET

 

RECOMMENDED ON ALETEIA

Heather King’s 
"Being Catholic" voices Heather’s views on aspects of Catholicism: "Certain Catholic media types say we are obligated to watch mindless films and bad TV so we can meet people “where they are” and to that I say, I don’t think so." And,  ".. Catholicism is a radical search for the truth. We don’t hear nearly enough that grace costs. We don’t hear nearly enough that to follow Christ more or less means being poor." 
ALETEIA

 

BRITAIN & IRELAND


Muslim faith schools are causing serious divisions in society because of their lack of diversity, warns top equality campaigner 
— The rise in Muslim faith schools is breeding social and racial segregation in Britain, a leading equality campaigner said today 
DAILY MAIL

 

Why I fear for liberty and justice in 2015 Britain 
DAILY MAIL

 

Cost of living crunch means real wages have fallen by as much as 50% in six years in some parts of UK – and unions warn they may not recover until 2024 
DAILY MAIL

 

Police State Britain: Branded bigots at the age of THREE — How thousands of children are being blacklisted by schools for using innocuous playground taunts 
DAILY MAIL

 

“Religious freedom is at the heart of human rights” — Bishop of Cork 
ICBC

 

Francis blesses development arm of Scottish Catholic Church — Pope Francis has praised a Scottish international development charity for its 50 years of work serving and supporting the poor 
THE TABLET

 

EUROPE

Man shoots ex-girlfriend and two other guests at family New Year’s Eve party in France before killing himself in suburban bloodbath — A jilted boyfriend shot dead his ex-girlfriend and two other guests at an intimate New Year’s Eve party in France before turning the shotgun on himself 
DAILY MAIL

 

Gunman arrested near Turkish President’s office — Turkish police said a suspected “terrorist” armed with grenades and guns was arrested after a failed attack near the office of President Recep Erdogan 
IW

 

Poll: One in 8 Germans would join anti-Muslim marches — The survey highlighted growing support in Germany, as in other European Union countries including Britain and Sweden, for parties and movements tapping into voter fears that mainstream politicians are too soft on immigration 
JERUSALEM POST

 

Third mosque attack occurs in Sweden 
JERUSALEM POST

 

AFRICA

Suicide bomber hits church in Nigeria’s Gombe, wounding eight — A suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of a church in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Gombe during a New Year service, wounding eight people 
REUTERS

 

Attempted coup in Gambia — Gambian authorities arrested several military personnel and civilians after a trove of weapons and explosives were found as a part of an attempted coup on the West African nation 
TDB

 

MIDDLE EAST

ISIS fighters may be contracting Ebola 
DAILY MAIL

 

26 dead and 48 injured in New Year’s Yemen bombing 
REUTERS

 

Iran says Saudi Arabia should curb oil price fall — Falling world oil prices will hurt countries across the Middle East unless Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, takes action to reverse the slump, Iran’s deputy foreign minister has said 
REUTERS

 

Terrorist accidentally tweets location of ISIS "safe houses" in Syria 
BB

 

Indians celebrate New Year in Abu Dhabi — Indian Christians in the UAE shunned the many party events in the capital in favor of a more spiritual tone to see in the new year. Many families chose to pray at St Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi as a way of keeping in touch with their community and religion 
ICH

 

The reality of being a Christian in the Gulf — "I saw a lot of abuse of domestic workers" 
THE GUARDIAN

 

ASIA & FAR EAST

5 killed in renewed India-Pakistan border clashes — An exchange of gunfire has taken place in the Shakargarh sector of Narowal on the border in Jammu and Kashmir in which four Pakistani soldiers were killed following the killing earlier in the day of an Indian border guard 
KASHMIR NEWS

 

41 church members killed in AirAsia disaster — The tragic loss of AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 on the way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, has hit Surabaya’s Christian community especially hard. One quarter of the 162 passengers and crew who died were from a single church 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Philippines issues stern guidelines to priests 
RAPPLER

 

Kim Jong-un reveals North Korea WILL talk to South Korea and may hold "high level summit" after mass hack against Sony’s "The Interview" — In somewhat of a New Year’s resolution, the leader said he is open to the discussions or even a summit – a statement welcomed by Seoul, which in turn urged the North to take concrete steps towards normalization of relations 
DAILY MAIL

 

Grieving relatives pray at candlelight memorial for victims of Shanghai New Year’s Eve stampede that killed 36 and left 47 injured — Eyewitnesses said the stampede was caused when partygoers scrambled for fake money which had been thrown from a nearby building 
DAILY MAIL

 

China factory activity falls — China’s factory activity sputtered in December, underlining the challenges facing the country’s manufacturers as they fight rising costs and softening demand in a cooling economy 
REUTERS

 

FAMILY MATTERS

Gay marriages to begin across Florida — A federal judge in north Florida on Thursday ordered the start of gay marriages in all parts of the state after Jan. 5, when a stay expires on his earlier ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional 
CHARISMA

 

Three Florida counties put an end to courthouse weddings to avoid performing gay marriage ceremonies — In response to a federal judge ruling which lifts a ban on gay marriage, three Jacksonville-area counties have decided that they will stop conducting courthouse weddings 
CHRISTIAN POST

 

Two lesbians walk into a church looking for trouble 
CHARISMA 

 

 

ADDITIONAL


Could the culture of death lead to World War III?
 — Some people believe mankind is progressing—growing wiser, getting better. But the authors of "The Race to Save Our Century" point out the last 100 years were the deadliest in recorded history, and the next century may be even deadlier 
CHARISMA

 

Nicki Minaj: "Abortion I had as a teenager has haunted me all my life” 
LIFE NEWS

 

Billy Graham honored on Gallup’s "Most Admired Man" list for 58th time 
GOSPEL HERALD

 

Catholics can discover beauty in other Christian traditions 
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER

 

Looking Back: The wonder of dogs 
FAITH HUB

 

Newsweek on Christianity: So misinformed, it’s a mockery 
CHRISTIAN POST