Sparks flew over the Vatican Bank when cardinals met on the eve of the conclave that elected Pope Francis, according to Vatican watcher Andrea Tornielli. The journalist said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, administrator of the Holy See until the new pope was elected, criticised Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz for previously complaining about the management Read more
Putting the blame for child sex abuse on the Catholic Church is a way of avoiding the issue, French Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois has said. “We shouldn’t be duped. It’s easy because that prevents asking the question within society itself,” said Cardinal Vingt-Trois, the archbishlp of Paris. “Paedophilia is not solely a Church problem. Eighty per Read more
A Catholic nun in Ohio is being charged with vote fraud for casting two ballots in the 2012 United States election. Sister Marguerite Kloos, 54, has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison. She told investigators she had filled out an absentee ballot for Read more
It was church with a difference at Western Springs yesterday, as 25,000 people turned out to experience the first Pasifika Festival Sunday service. The festival celebrated its 21st birthday this year and saw an expansion to two days, with the inclusion of a combined Pacific Island church service in the morning. Around 900 people listened Read more
Family and friends filled the Shrine of the Three Hearts church at Vaoala last Thursday to farewell well-known businessman Norman Samuel Paul in a requiem mass where Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga was the principal celebrant. The Head of State, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi and Her Highness Filifilia, with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi and Read more
The 1888 Gothic revival presbytery beside St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral in Auckland CBD is an earthquake-prone building. Cathedral general manager Kevin Sherlock said Auckland Council had assessed this unreinforced brick masonry building and added it to its dangerous building list as part of a wider audit of city buildings, now under way. Continue reading
A former Vatican diplomat has recalled the dramatic circumstances in which he saved the life of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez life during a failed 2002 military coup. “Chavez pleaded with me to save him,” recalled Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad, who was deputy nuncio in Venezuela and is now a bishop in the northern Indian Read more
With Passover only weeks away, the timing of a massive swarm of locusts in Egypt is striking many Israelis as downright biblical. Millions of the grasshopper-like insects have swarmed Israel’s southern neighbour, damaging crops. Some have since made their way to southern Israel. On the eve of Passover, which this year begins at sundown on Read more
A crowd of about 3000 Muslims has attacked and burned about 100 homes of Christians in Lahore, Pakistan, for a case of alleged blasphemy. The crowd also threw stones and injured several police officers who rushed to the scene to stop the violence. Between 120 and 140 Christian men, women, children were admitted to hospital. Read more
MP Richard Prosser who came under fire after saying in his regular column in Investigate magazine that young Muslim men from “Wogistan” should be banned from flying on western airlines, has had a meeting with 12 Muslim leaders. Last night’s meeting was arranged by Patrick O’Connor, the director of PEETO The Multi Cultural Learning Centre. Hassan Haji Ibrahim, who Read more