UCANews.com founder and the news agency’s executive director for 30 years Fr Robert Astorino, died on June 25. “Bob married media professionalism to a passion for the Church in Asia to develop an outstanding news media channel”, said Michael Kelly SJ, who succeeded Astorino. Astorino established 14 news bureaus to cover 22 countries throughout Asia, Read more
A member of the Parliament of Victoria has urged that there be an inquiry into the treatment of Cardinal George Pell by the state’s police and judiciary, months after Australia’s High Court unanimously overturned his conviction for five alleged counts of sexual abuse. Bernie Finn, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from the Liberal Read more
Jean Kennedy Smith, a diplomat, humanitarian and author and the last surviving sibling of the late President John F. Kennedy, died on June 17 at her home in Manhattan. She was 92. President Bill Clinton nominated her to serve as ambassador to Ireland in 1993, and she held the post until 1998. When he nominated Read more
Amid the pandemic, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand managed to raise some $683,000 during its 2020 Lent Appeal, a figure that is more than 30 per lower than the amounts they raised in recent years. Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand director Julianne Hickey said, in the past, the Lent Appeal raised $1million. Read more in NZCAtholic
The Diocese of Hong Kong has signed an open letter to the Chinese government demanding that controversial new security laws being imposed by the mainland be pulled back. The letter, which was signed by 86 human rights and social justice organizations including the diocese’s Justice and Peace Commission, was addressed to Li Zhanshu, chairman of Read more
Malaysia will not allow foreign workers to take any new jobs in the country until the end of the year to help unemployed citizens find new work, the government has announced. “We are trying to reduce [the number of] foreign workers in the workforce besides giving priority to locals to secure jobs,” Human Resources Minister Read more
The Vatican has praised a Philippine diocese for becoming the first in the entire Catholic Church to adopt renewable energy. Vatican officials have released a document offering a guide for Catholics on how to take care of the earth as God’s creation and man’s “common home,” citing the diocese’s response to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Read more
Turkish Catholic bishops have pledged not to contest plans to turn Istanbul’s ancient Hagia Sophia cathedral that now serves as a museum into a Muslim place of worship. In announcing their decision June 18, the bishops backed government claims that the monument’s future is a question of national sovereignty. “We are a church deprived of Read more
Paul Harricknen, from the Catholic Professionals’ Society, said the Public Health Emergency Act was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and debate. He said he wants the Ombudsman to either speak directly to the government or challenge the new law in the Supreme Court. “In many respects the act was unconstitutional,” Mr Harricknen said. Read Read more