VATICAN CITY (EWTN News/CNA)—During a meeting Oct. 14 with Italy’s provincial regulators, Pope Benedict XVI held up the fourth-century governor-turned-bishop St. Ambrose of Milan, as a model of a just administrator.

“This holy bishop and doctor of the Church, animated by so great a love and respect for state institutions as for those ecclesial, is an extraordinary example of rectitude, especially his loyalty to the law and firmness against injustice and oppression,” Pope Benedict said in his address to the 110 prefects of Italy.

The Pope held the special audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican to mark the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.

Prefects are representatives of...READ MORE

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Leonardo Defilippis wears many hats well.

He is an acclaimed actor, producer and director of award-winning films and videos, including the feature-length Thérèse; he is also the founder and president of Saint Luke Productions and Luke Films, which will celebrate their 30th anniversary on Oct. 18, the feast of St. Luke.

Defilippis’ latest production is the made-for-television program Vianney Speaks, which is co-produced with EWTN and premieres on EWTN on Oct. 14 and 15.

Vianney Speaks grew out of Vianney, Defilippis’ highly praised play about the life of St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests. Defilippis has performed it for more than 100,000 people, from prelates to prisoners....READ MORE

The Vatican’s adult stem-cell venture with a U.S. biopharmecutical firm continues to gain momentum since the partnership between the two was announced in June.

The move shows how “the Catholic Church is not against science, that we support ethically acceptable research, and that we want to foster this knowledge and spread it globally,” Father Tomaz Trafny of the Vatican’s Council for Culture told CNA on Oct. 12.

“We also want people to understand that in joining forces we can really bring benefit to humanity,” he said, noting that the endeavor “is the first time we’ve entered into so deep a collaboration with an outside company.”

On June 16, the Vatican announced before the global media...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (EWTN News/CNA)—The Obama administration has cut funding for the U.S. bishops’ campaign against human trafficking, which had been challenged by the ACLU for avoiding contraception and abortion.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said there was “no reason given” by the Department of Health and Human Services for rejecting the conference’s application for a new grant at the end of September.

She said the bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services work had previously been “well regarded.”

However, in a Sept. 29 letter to the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, Archbishop Timothy Dolan had warned that the administration was “requiring...READ MORE

John W. Garcia, known as “Johnny” to his friends, has seen the dark side of life. The 39-year-old California native came from an abusive home and sought to alleviate his pain through alcohol. He soon found that as his drinking increased so did his suffering.

Garcia’s attempts to overcome alcohol and eventual drug abuse included Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, inpatient and outpatient treatment centers, more than 10 medications and psychotherapy. He had periods of sobriety but also many relapses, never finding true contentment.

Garcia even found that some of the means proposed for his benefit actually made things worse, including the medications he was given. His breaking point came in...READ MORE

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ROME (EWTN News/CNA)—As thunder, lightning and wind whipped through the World Youth Day prayer vigil this past August, Pope Benedict XVI was advised to leave the event three times. But he insisted that if the young people stayed, then he would too.

The revelation comes from a young Honduran woman who stood next to the Pope throughout the event.

“The masters of ceremony were asking him if the wanted to leave because it was raining; it was pouring, and the wind was really strong. And he kept on saying that he would not leave. In fact, he twice waved his finger saying, ‘No, no, no’,” 27-year-old Erika Rivera told EWTN News.

The advisers then asked a third time if the Pope wanted to...READ MORE