Pope Francis’s secretary, 34-year-old Miriam Wuolou of Eritrea, was found dead earlier this week — and the Vatican is calling foul. Wuolou’s body was discovered in her Rome apartment by police after her brother raised concern that she wasn’t answering her phone. She was seven months pregnant and suffered from diabetes, which can prove dangerous Read more
Pope Francis urged world leaders to “promote peaceful coexistence” in the face of “a devastating outbreak of violence against Christians” on Monday, when he received the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Pope Matthias I, in the Vatican. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which rejected the Read more
Two top cardinals say that as Catholics engage in charity around the world, they must be careful not to put their desire to convert people to their faith ahead of their missionary work. Speaking at the “Charity will never end” conference organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council Cor Unum, an umbrella office to coordinate the Read more
Traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson plans to ordain another bishop without permission from Rome. Bishop Williamson, who was dismissed from the Society of St Pius X in 2012, told followers the ordination will happen in Brazil on March 19. Last year, he presided at the ordination of a bishop, also in Brazil. Bishop Williamson said the Read more
Fr Fernando Cardenal, SJ, a priest who defied the Vatican to be in the Sandanista government in Nicaragua, has died aged 82. Fr Cardenal was suspended from the priesthood after refusing to step down as education minister in the left-wing government, which he joined following the overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1979. Fr Cardenal, Read more
Catholic bishops from part of Africa have sent a strong signal that the continent will not accept Western dictatorship on homosexuality. The president of West Africa’s regional bishops conference, Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr, said Africans must be alert to any indoctrination from the West to accept same-sex marriage. Cardinal Sarr said some Americans behave “like people who Read more
Last Wednesday part of Christchurch’s St Bede’s College was evacuated after a chemical spill. Two fire engines, a command unit, and the Hazardous Substance Unit were called to the school at 10.35 am on Wednesday, Fire Service communications centre shift manager Lyn Crosson said. “They have some sort of chemical spill in a prep room near Read more
Two couples were married in Dipton, a small town in New Zealand, within minutes of each other last Friday, with an in-demand priest dashing between the two ceremonies. It’s believed to have been almost two decades since there has been a wedding at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in the Northern Southland town, 60km north of Read more
Three Catholic parishes in Khandallah, Johnsonville and Newlands are the latest in Wellington to merge. The move will mean a new name and structure for St Andrew’s in Newlands, St Benedict’s in Khandallah and St Peter and Paul’s in Johnsonville. The new parish will be established at a mass at St Andrew’s on February 28, Read more
Pope Francis has appealed for an international consensus to abolish the death penalty. Speaking at St Peter’s Square on Sunday, the Pope said “Thou shalt not kill applies to the guilty as well as the innocent”. The Pontiff said the commandment has “absolute value”. He asked politicians around the world to “make a courageous and Read more