Father Gianni Criveller

As the conclave convened officially on March 12 to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI—and set the future direction for the Universal Catholic Church—I find myself hoping as never before that the cardinals choose wisely.

It is my hope that the next pope will guide the Church according to the principles on which Jesus founded it: to bring the good news of salvation to those who do not know about it.

HONG KONG (SE): “It takes two to tango,” a bit of proverbial wisdom tells us. Another sage jewel tossed around in casual conversation goes, “Behind every great man is a great woman.”

Scripture too chimes in with its own bit of wisdom from the Book of Proverbs, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no lack of gain” (Proverbs 10:31).

The question, “What are you giving up for Lent?” is a common enough prompt to a conversation among Catholic people, one which, as often as not, rambles drearily through preferred diets, bad habits and delicacies that may well be done without for a bit.

But does that add up to using the time constructively? Maybe there is something that could be taken on during Lent that may not just result in a smaller stomach or finer sense of well-being, but a minor conversion in our faith lives.

WARSAW (CNS): On a damp street in Warsaw, Poland, not far from St. Florian’s Cathedral, a tiny mattress lies on display behind a safety-glass window, installed at waist height on a dull gray wall. 

To the left, a door sign reads Sisters of Our Lady of Loretto. Across the teeming thoroughfare a multi-storey hospital gazes down over rutted sidewalks. 

WASHINGTON (SE): Billed as a saint to transcend partisan politics, the champion of the Catholic Labour Movement in the United States of America (US) from the time of the Great Depression of 1929 to 1932 through to her death on 29 November 1980, Dorothy Day was put forward by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a candidate for sainthood in December 2012.

New Delhi’s young gang rape victim has paid the ultimate price for being a woman in India.

A few days after her funeral, people will return to their daily routine and the horror of violence against women will recede from memory. But it will not be long before we hear of another rape.

In one of the more traumatic weeks in India, the media exposed their bigotry and their blood thirst in ample measure over the tragic death in Ireland of an Indian dentist, Savita Halappanavar, from Karnataka state, of septicemia following a miscarriage, and the execution by hanging of Ajmal Kasab, a 25-year-old Pakistani citizen, who had been part of a terrorist commando group that killed over 160 persons during a hotel hijack in Mumbai four years ago.

The launch of the Apple iPhone 5 prompted a crazy rush on outlets by people vying to be among the first to get one. But that is not likely to be the end of it, as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the iPad Mini have both joined it on the market.

People flock to get hold of these knickknacks, which boast faster streaming speeds than their predecessors and added functions.