The Missionary Society of St. Columban, commonly known as the Columbans, is marking the upcoming Season of Creation with a podcast series on the beauty of biodiversity and the threats it faces. The Season of Creation is an annual celebration of prayer and action by Christian churches and ecclesial communities worldwide to protect God’s creation, Read more
As part of an effort to remember and pray for persecuted Christians, several churches in the Diocese of Málaga, Spain are displaying a chalice that was shot by the Islamic State. The chalice was rescued from a Syrian Catholic church in the town of Qaraqosh on the Nineveh plain in Iraq. It was brought to Read more
The Benedictine monks of Downside Abbey have announced they are to leave their Somerset monastery after 200 years. The decision comes soon after the abbey and its monastic community completely separated from Downside School, a move that followed a 2018 investigation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) into abuse at both Downside Read more
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Council of Churches – WCC – have jointly called on Christians to reflect on charity and “the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The PCID and WCC on Thursday released a joint document “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: Read more
The head of the World Health Organisation, which has been strongly advocating rapid, fair and equitable access to potential Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, voiced support for Pope Francis’ similar call for global protections. Pope Francis made appeals on Twitter and at his weekly general audience insisting that any vaccine developed for the novel coronavirus should be Read more
One of the outcomes of a Zoom meeting attended by more than 100 church reform advocates representing thousands of Catholics from Australia and New Zealand, was a call for the Australian bishops to appoint a woman as co-chairperson of the upcoming Plenary Council in that country. The Zoom meeting took place on July 16. Among Read more
Priests and all Catholics are being urged to learn the signs of domestic abuse and how to help victims. The National Board of Catholic Women has responded to a surge in pandemic-related abuse, including against gay and transgender people by issuing a booklet advising as to how to detect the signs and to help. The Read more
South Auckland churches rallied together after more cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the community. Last Friday, 11 new cases of COVID-19 were announced – nine linked to the community breakout and two were imported. Five of these cases were linked to churches in Auckland. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said 223 close contacts Read more
A Catholic archbishop has taken part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Muslim mosque in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, calling it “a ‘groundbreaking’ symbol of interreligious harmony.” Archbishop Agustinus Agus of Pontianak was among five local officials and religious leaders to attend the event on Aug. 21 in Landak district. West Kalimantan Read more
Catholic communities in a northwestern Vietnamese province which refused to accept religions have had their legal status approved by the government after a decades-long wait. On Aug. 21, Lai Chau provincial authorities announced that they had officially allowed Hung Hoa Diocese to establish Lai Chau Parish based in San Thang commune in Lai Chau city. Read more