Young mom chooses baby’s life over chemo

A 21-year old Army wife put her baby’s life first when doctors told her she was terminally ill early on in her pregnancy.

According to American Forces Press Services, doctors told Yesenia Ruiz-Rojo that she had about two to four months to live when she was diagnosed with liver cancer when she was 15 weeks pregnant.

More concerned with her pre-born child’s life than her own, Ruiz-Rojo turned down traditional treatments such as chemo therapy or surgery to remove the tumor which covered over 65 percent of her liver.

Her doctors knew the situation was serious because, according to research, an expectant mother with such an aggressive kind of cancer is not expected live long enough or be healthy enough to deliver the baby at full term.

Updated ‘Pope App’ Launched

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications has launched an updated version of “the Pope App” and presented it to Pope Francis.

At a viewing to demonstrate its features Monday with the council’s president, Archbishop Claudio Celli, and the project coordinator, Thaddeus Jones, the Pope expressed gratitude for all the media services the council makes available.

Pope Francis has expressed his appreciation for the work being done by all the Vatican’s media services in enhancing their presence and participation in the digital world. The Pope’s words came as he was given a personal viewing of the new updated version of “The Pope App”, developed by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

According to the council’s president, the app’s new design simplifies access to content and, allows people to be in ever closer contact with the Pope, his ministry and his message of God’s love,

Iraqi Archbishop: “My Diocese No Longer Exists”

Mosul’s Prelate Speaks as a Refugee Among Refugees

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“Ahlan wa sahlan. Welcome,” is Archbishop Amel Nona’s friendly greeting to an anxious-looking veiled woman who enters his office. He offers her a seat. “She has just come here to Tilkef from Mosul on foot with one of her sons seeking safety,” explains the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, translating the agitated words of the Muslim woman. “There have been skirmishes between the government and the Sunni rebels. That’s why she fled.”

There are only three kilometres between Mosul and the Christian town of Tilkef. But they are now worlds apart since the Islamists conquered the town. “We welcome everybody here, be they Christian or Muslim,” Archbishop Nona says. “This is what our faith teaches us: to help everyone regardless of religion. God loves everyone. That’s why we should help all.”

The Church has opened its schools, kindergartens and community rooms not only to Christians, but also to Muslim families. In Alqosh, a Christian town about 20 kilometres from Mosul, they have taken in 150 Muslim families in addition to 500 Christian ones. In Tilkef more than 700 refugee families have been taken in, including Muslims. The town is bursting at the seams. Refugees have even been accommodated in a print shop for liturgical literature.

Baton Rouge Diocese Responds to Court Order to Break Seal of Confession

Says Court Cannot Determine What Constitutes Sacrament; Recalls Priests’ Oath to Endure Imprisonment Rather Than Break Seal

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Here is a statement released from the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in response to a Louisiana Supreme Court decision that a priest should break the seal of confession. The decision regards the case of a girl who was sexually molested by an adult male and allegedly spoke with a priest in confession about the assault.

The parents of the abuse victim have named the Diocese of Baton Rouge and a priest, Father Jeff Bayhi, as defendants in the suit. The parents allege that their daughter spoke to Father Bayhi in confession about the abuse, and that Fater Bayhi advised her not to report the incident.

Pakistan: Asia Bibi is “happy”, even in prison

Rumours about her ailing health have proven false. The date of the next hearing for her appeal trial has been set for 9 September

Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who was unfairly sentenced to death for committing blasphemy is in good health and has not lost her faith in God, despite being locked up for over five years. Amazingly, this believer is a happy woman despite her suffering. The new date set for the start of her appeal process is 9 September 2014. Hopefully this time her case will finally be heard in court.

Vatican Insider has learnt that a few days ago, a delegation of Asia’s relatives and members of the “Renaissance Education Foundation” (the institute that is providing assistance to Asia’s family and is ensuring her children get an education )paid a visit to the women’s prison in Multan where the woman is being held. The reports about her allegedly worsening health are apparently false. “Thanks heaven the Lord is keeping her in good health. Asia is well and her faith in Christ makes her a happy woman, even in prison,” the director of the “Renaissance Education Foundation”, Joseph Nadeem, told Vatican Insider after the visit.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for July 2014

Join us during the month of July in praying for the Holy Father’s universal prayer intention, “that sports may always be occasions of human fraternity and growth.” The Vatican also announced that Pope Francis is praying this month for evangelization in his missionary prayer intention, specifically “that the Holy Spirit may support the work of the laity who proclaim the Gospel in the poorest countries.”