Attempts to send a former Catholic brother back to Australia to face hundreds of child sex charges are subject to further delays. Bernard Kevin McGrath, 65, faces 252 child sex charges in Australia, and the Australian government is seeking to extradite him. A Christchurch district court judge agreed to McGrath’s extradition on June 11, 2013, Read more
More than 500 sets of twins have gathered in India for the celebration of the feast of twin saints, in a tradition that is growing each year. Celebrations were held in Kerala last month in a Syro-Malabar parish named for Sts Gervasis and Prothasis. The saints were twin brothers who were scourged and beheaded for Read more
Around 40 Catholic and Mormon youth came together over two days for a service project assembling personal care kits for men at the Wellington Night Shelter, a visit to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a presentation on the work of Caritas, an evening devotional service in Porirua, and a visit to Parliament for lunch Read more
A Nigerian diocese has banned women from attending church services while carrying hand-bags. Bishop Calistus Onaga of Enugu diocese directed all his parish priests to announce this during recent Sunday Masses. The hand-bag ban is a security measure in response to recent incursions by Boko Haram militants, especially a foiled bomb attack at a church. Read more
A controversial church which advertised that a prayer session could heal health problems including “incurable diseases” has been told to remove the advertisement. A complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority was made about a brochure from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, which was circulated publicly and contained a timetable of healing sessions. Read more
An Italian archbishop has proposed a 10-year moratorium on naming godfathers of baptised children, as a way to stem the influence of mob bosses. Archbishop Giuseppe Morosini of Reggio Calabria made the suggestion to Pope Francis last month. Initially the Pope rejected the proposal, but appears to have rethought the matter after visiting Calabria, home Read more
When a young Indian child asked if Krishna was Jesus’ righthand man, the president of New Plymouth’s Indian Community knew it was time the town got a Hindu temple. New Plymouth’s Indian community has doubled in size in the past three years. Despite the city’s Indian population being 60-70 per cent Hindu and 10-15 percent Read more
An Austrian bishop has warned that the Eucharist is in danger of “drying up”, because the Church is not prepared to change rule on who can be a priest. Former Vienna auxiliary Helmut Krätzl has called on bishops to take up Pope Francis’s request to “make courageous suggestions” in order to stop eucharistic scarcity. “We Read more
Anjum Rahman is a Muslim woman who has lived in New Zealand for 41 years. Sh is the mother of four, is a candidate for the New Zealand a Labour Party in the upcoming September general elections. She unsuccessfully stood for the Hamilton City Council last year. If chosen this year, she will be the Read more
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has asked his fellow priests to stop bidding their parishioners “good morning” at the start of Mass. In an article posted on the Philippines bishops’ conference website, Cardinal Tagle said saying “the Lord be with you” is already sufficient. “With all due respect, my brother-priests, I do not see the Read more