Pope Prays for Barcelona Victims

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke has said that Pope Francis was greatly disturbed by what had happened in Barcelona.
He also said that the Pope prayed for the victims and expressed his closeness to the Spanish people in particular the injured and the families of the victims.
13 people were killed in the terror attack on Thursday in the popular Las Ramblas area of the city when a white van zigzagged at high speed down the busy avenue thronged with tourists, knocking down pedestrians.
Spain mounted a sweeping anti-terror operation on Friday.
As security forces hunted for the van's driver, who was seen escaping on foot, police said they had killed five attackers on Thursday night in Cambrils, a town south of Barcelona, to thwart a "terrorist attack" using explosive belts.
Thursday's carnage was the latest in a string of attacks in the past 13 months in European cities including Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm.

(from Vatican Radio)

Catholic Church in Nigeria Excommunicates Priest Who Resigned Recently...

The Catholic Church in Nigeria has excommunicated a priest who recently quit the Church.

The Church said it was by the notice stripping the priest of all privileges accruing to a leader of the Church.

Patrick Edet, who served in the Catholic Diocese of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, had announced over a local radio station on August 2 that he was leaving the Catholic Church so he could be ‘free to serve God the way he wanted.’

Before he left Catholic Church, Mr. Edet ran a Pentecostal-style fellowship that attracted a huge crowd in the city of Uyo.

He said leaving the Catholic Church now gave him the freedom to manage the fellowship in his own style, without getting into conflict with his former church, adding that being a Catholic priest was like being restricted to “a box.”

“You cannot know God beyond that box. You cannot express God beyond that box. And any attempt for you to go beyond that box brings you label.

“The reason I am doing this is that I want to be right with God first. I want to go to heaven when I die,” he said.

The Catholic Bishop of Uyo Diocese, John Ayah, in his reaction to the development, issued a general notice to the parishioners on August 12, where he advised Catholics to stay away from Mr. Edet.

“I advise that no Catholic member should approach him to obtain any service or guidance henceforth in the name of the Church,” the bishop said, adding that the Church disassociated itself from the activities of Mr. Edet.

“Any Catholic who attends his programme or identifies with him (Mr. Edet) in any way does so at the risk of his or her Catholic faith and membership,” he said.

The bishop said following Mr. Edet’s resignation, he has stripped him of all his power, rights and privileges as a Catholic priest.

Mr. Ayah said he was forwarding Mr. Edet’s resignation letter to Pope Francis for further directives on the matter.

Nigerians mostly on social media had expressed diverse reactions on the resignation with some lauding his confidence while others criticised him as an attention seeker.

Today's Gospel Reading

Matthew 19:3-12 ©

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’
They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’
The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Today's Mass Readings

First reading
Apocalypse 11:19,12:1-6,10 ©
 The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake, and violent hail. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready, for her to be looked after in the twelve hundred and sixty days. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the persecutor, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 44(45):10-12,16 ©
On your right stands the queen, in garments of gold.

The daughters of kings are among your loved ones. On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house.

On your right stands the queen, in garments of gold.

So will the king desire your beauty: He is your lord, pay homage to him. They are escorted amid gladness and joy; they pass within the palace of the king.

On your right stands the queen, in garments of gold.

Second reading
1 Corinthians 15:20-26 ©
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.

Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia! Mary has been taken up to heaven; all the choirs of angels are rejoicing. Alleluia!

Gospel Luke 1:39-56 ©
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

Pope Francis decries attack on Nigerian churchgoers, violence in C

 Pope Francis appealed on Wednesday for an end to “every form of hatred and violence”, especially those “perpetrated in places of worship, where the faithful gather to pray”. He was referring to an attack on Catholics attending Sunday Mass in southern Nigeria and to recent violence against Christians in the Central African Republic.

Listen to our report: At his General Audience, Pope Francis said he “remains deeply saddened by the massacre, which took place last Sunday in Nigeria inside a church, where innocent people were killed.” At least 13 people were killed and 26 others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on worshippers at St. Philip’s Catholic Church in Ozubulu near the city of Onitsha. The Pope also decried an incident which occurred on Wednesday in the Central African Republic. “And, unfortunately, news has arrived this morning of violent homicides in the Central African Republic against the Christian community.” He expressed his desire that attacks on places of worship should cease. “I hope that all forms of hatred and violence cease, and may such shameful crimes not be repeated, especially those perpetrated in places of worship, where the faithful gather to pray.” After a brief pause, the Holy Father invited all present to think about “our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and in the Central African Republic” and to pray for them. He then led the crowd in the recitation of the Hail Mary. Pope Francis already on Monday sent a telegramme of condolences to Bishop Hilary Paul Odili Okeke of Nnewi following the attack on the church in his diocese. (from Vatican Radio)