Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ has strongly denied Italian newspaper reports, that a cardinal is among those being investigated over the “Vatileaks” scandal. “I categorically deny that any cardinal, Italian or otherwise, is a suspect,” Lombardi said. Universe Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports on Twitter that Lombardi also denied there was a link between Read more
Questions are beginning to emerge whether Paolo Gabriele, the 46 year old Papal butler, husband and father of three, who with his family lives in apartment inside the walls of Vatican, is responsible for the Vatileaks. Gabriele is one of a limited number of people who have access to the Pope’s private quarters. However his arrest was Read more
As well as being a portal for cute and entertaining videos, on Friday 25 May YouTube launched a Human Rights Channel, a place for serious human rights stories to be told. Joining forces with WITNESS, a global leader in the use of video for human rights, and Storyful, a social news-gathering operation, YouTube is keen to Read more
The board of the Vatican Bank is looking for a new president after it voted unanimously on May 24 to remove Ettore Gotti Tedeschi as president. The Vatican announced the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) is “looking ahead to the search for a new and distinguished president who can assist the IOR to regain effective and wider Read more
The Vatican butler accused of leaking documents is Paolo Gabriele. He is a 46-year-old Italian layman who has worked in the Vatican since 1998. He is married and has three children. Writing in National Catholic Reporter, John L Allen Jr outlines the evidence against him. He then suggests motives behind the leaking of confidential information to Read more
A British Canon, Rev Paul Shakerley, has apologised for the rather unholy language he placed on his Facebook page. Peter Burrows, bishop of Doncaster, met with Shakerley and said the Canon regretted the language and had removed the entry on Facebook. “Whilst meant in a jocular sense, he recognizes that some of the language was Read more
Cardinal Levada has issued regulations “regarding the manner of proceeding in the discernment of presumed apparitions or revelations.” The regulations, updated from the time of Pope Paul VI, are aimed at helping pastors “in their difficult task of discerning presumed apparitions, revelations, messages, or extraordinary phenomena of presumed supernatural origin.” In his column in NCR, Eugene Cullen Read more
In what is billed as a showdown between the US Catholic nuns and the Vatican, the nuns will meet this week to determine their response to the Vatican’s reprimand. Starting Wednesday (NZ time) the religious women will meet for three days in Washington and intend to plan their move slowly, not rushing to judgment. “The board will Read more
A $55 million plan to restore Christchurch Cathedral has been put forward by heritage campaigners. Marcus Brandt put his restoration design before a 50-strong crowd at the Court Theatre on Sunday. He called it “The People’s Steeple”. Brandt, who has been restoring historic structures for 30 years, said the cathedral was the most controversial heritage project Read more
A Supreme Court decision has once again put Papua New Guinea in crisis. The court has again declared that the current government, led by Peter O’Neill, is illegal – this time on the eve of scheduled elections. Parliament has voted to declare a State of Emergency, and the Chief Justice has been arrested. The decision Read more