New Zealand has recorded the largest increase in the number of registered deaths since the 1918 influenza pandemic, new data from Stats NZ shows. The births and deaths figures, for the year ending December 2022, show there were 38,574 deaths in 2022, 10.4 per cent (3642) more than in 2021. This increase – attributed to Read more
Pope Francis has intervened for the third time to crack down on the celebration of the old Latin Mass, a sign of continued friction with Catholic traditionalists. Francis reasserted in a new legal decree published Tuesday that the Holy See must approve new celebrations of the old rite by signing off on bishops’ decisions to Read more
Church officials in South Korea have asked for research and education plans as Catholics in the country experience a drop in priestly ordinations amid decreasing birth rate and religiosity. The number of newly ordained priests dropped to 87 in 2023 from 131 in 2011, a decrease of 35 percent, according to the Statistics of the Read more
A Dutch cardinal has said that he is pressing ahead with a plan to phase out Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest within his territory. Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, said in a Feb 14 letter that he was committed to eliminating the priestless Sunday celebrations over the Read more
Migrant arrivals to New Zealand have rebounded as the country reopened its borders, but still remain well below pre-Covid levels. Stats NZ said there was a provisional net migration gain of 15,800 people in 2022, compared to the net migration loss of 15,000 in 2021. However, it remained below pre-pandemic net migration gains, which averaged Read more
More than 100 priests suspected of child sexual abuse remain active in church roles in Portugal, according to the head of a commission investigating the issue. The commission, which started its work in January 2022, said in its final report published on Monday that at least 4,815 children were sexually abused by members of the Read more
The carnage cyclone Gabrielle left in her wake on Napier showed how ‘isolated and abandoned’ the city was from central government services, said its deputy mayor. The Hawke’s Bay had been hammered by the weather throughout the week, with suburbs submerged, and power and communications knocked out after the Redclyffe substation at Taradale was flooded Read more
There is “no chance” one of Cambodia’s last independent media outlets will be allowed to reopen, leader Hun Sen said Tuesday, after officials hit back at Western governments’ concerns over press freedoms ahead of national elections. Online Khmer- and English-language outlet Voice of Democracy (VOD) stopped broadcasting on Monday. Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered Read more
Pope Francis on Wednesday created a new independent supervisory commission for the Diocese of Rome. The commission will meet once a month and report directly to the pope in a yearly meeting. The oversight committee is part of the pope’s reform of the governance of the Rome Diocese, a reorganization that centralizes more of the Read more
Recently the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) published their latest batch of named asteroids (WGSBN Bulletin 3, #2; Feb 7 2023). Included in the list are three Jesuits who have worked at the Vatican Observatory and one Pope with importance to the history of the Observatory. 562971 Johannhagen is Read more