Pope Francis’ six-day pastoral visit to Canada was a great success. It wasn’t until the news conference on the plane back to Rome that it became clear he wasn’t properly briefed for his visit. Francis, in Canada on what he called a penitential pilgrimage, apologized to the Indigenous peoples of the country for the Catholic Church’s Read more
Watching local television news is not something I often do. Last week I decided I’d give it a go. Collective Noun What is the collective noun for banality presenters? Is it a “glut of banalisers” or a “nonsense of news readers”? Whatever the collective noun, NZ television news has cornered the banality market and raised Read more
Pope Francis is preparing the public for his stepping down in 2025, by constantly talking about his ill health and possible resignation, according to a Vatican expert. Robert Mickens is the editor of the Roman Catholic newspaper La Croix International. He has lived, studied and worked in Rome for 30 years. Mickens told inews he Read more
“Could the Church teaching on contraception change?” a journalist asked Pope Francis on Saturday during his return flight to Rome from Canada. “This is very timely,” Francis replied. “But know that dogma, morality, is always in a path of development, but development in the same direction.” Tradition can really be preserved and handed down only Read more
The Doctrine of Discovery is making headlines, especially in Canada. Numerous individuals and groups want it gone. The Doctrine is a collection of papal teachings beginning in the 14th century. The teachings (called papal bulls) blessed explorers’ efforts to colonise and claim the lands of any people who were not Christian. The explorers would then Read more
In part II, Bishop Peter Cullinane clarifies some of the areas in Pope Francis’ Decree Traditionis Custodes, where there is potential for misunderstandings and superficiality. Liturgical misunderstandings and superficiality develops Part I: Like charity, Christian unity begins at home. Wasn’t the Traditional Latin Mass the “Mass of the ages”? Yes, which is why it adapts Read more
The civil proceedings against Cardinal George Pell are for the same allegations of which he was acquitted by the High Court; “They’re going to hunt him down until he dies.” That was the response of someone close to me upon reading the news that Cardinal George Pell is now the subject of civil proceedings in Read more
The Vatican has warned the German Catholic Church of the potential for a schism if it pursues new moral or doctrinal norms during its Synodal Way process. Members of the Synodal Way, a group made up of equal numbers of German bishops and lay Catholics, meet regularly. In February, they called on the Catholic Church Read more
German bishops have hit back against a Vatican warning over the direction of the Synodal Way, saying they were “astonished” by the rebuke. The Vatican said Germany’s synodal path is a threat to church unity at a universal level. The Holy See stressed that the undertaking lacks the authority to compel bishops to make changes Read more
When Jesus’ first disciples were signing on, “Philip found Nathaniel and said ‘we have found the one Moses wrote about… Jesus from Nazareth’. Faced with Nathaniel’s scepticism, Philip simply said ‘come and see” (John 1:43-46). And that did it. If this same Jesus is now “Christ among you, …” (Col.1:27), then people’s experience of Christian Read more