A physically healthy 29-year-old woman was allowed to end her life through physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands on the grounds of depression. The decision has sparked renewed debate about the sanctity of life and legislation. Zoraya ter Beek died by euthanasia on May 22. Despite being physically healthy, the woman from Oldenzaal, a town near Read more
As a requirement of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care’s terms of reference, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden has received the Royal Commission’s recommendations ahead of the final report due to Parliament by 26 June, 2024. “The recommendations have now been provided to Erica Stanford as the Minister responsible for coordinating the Crown Read more
Pope Francis will engage in an online dialogue with regional students ahead of his ambitious trip to the Asia-Pacific and Oceania in September. Once again, this will allow young people to engage in frank conversations with the pontiff about the challenges facing their lives and the church in the modern world. Students from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Read more
More than one million United Methodists have quit the church overnight over new rules about homosexuality. During a North Carolina conference in early May, the United Methodist Church – a global denomination of Protestantism based in the US – changed some regulations to allow gay pastors and same-sex marriage. The Ivory Coast division – which Read more
A quiet revolution is taking place across 10 Catholic schools in the Canberra and Goulburn Diocese in Australia. The schools — including the ACT’s St Clare’s College, Merici College and St Thomas the Apostle School in Kambah — are piloting a program this year that sounds old-fashioned but is backed by the latest research into Read more
The Supreme Court has ruled a charity which helps reintegrate prisoners into society can be named in connection with convicted murderer and rapist Joseph Brider. Brider brutally killed Juliana Bonilla-Herrera in her Christchurch home in January 2022, just nine weeks after he was paroled from prison on a rape conviction. It can now be reported Read more
The Holy See has reinstated a Carmelite mother superior nearly a year after the bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, dismissed her after alleged inappropriate conduct with a priest. Bishop Michael Olson issued a decree on June 1, 2023, dismissing Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach from religious life following a nearly six-week-long investigation into the affair. Read more
The Green Party believes that a tax on homebuyers is needed to stop houses from lying unused. Green Party spokesperson for housing Tamantha Paul said that houses shouldn’t be left empty. “If there’s a house and it’s safe to live in, then we should fill those houses. It’s crazy that houses would sit abandoned when Read more
The cross at the apse of Notre-Dame de Paris, which survived the devastating 2019 fire, was reinstalled atop the cathedral’s framework Friday after a meticulous restoration by artistic ironworkers from Normandy. The imposing cross, spanning 12 meters and weighing 1.5 tons, is the only element of the choir roof that resisted the flames. Approximately 250 Read more