The Bishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, has used strong language to criticise priests who refuse to baptise children born to single mothers. – Originally reported 11 September 2012 – (We liked Pope Francis even when he was Jorge Bergoglio. This is the only story that ever brought down the whole website. People flocked Read more
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral during on the afternoon of 8 September in Scotland. Her death was announced on September 9, around 5:00 am. (NZ time.) – Originally reported 9 September 2022 In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain Read more
A former vicar-general in Vienna says the Church is at a crossroads in terms of lay parish leadership because of the shortage of priests. – Originally reported 5 June 2015 Fr Helmut Schüller said merging independent parishes into vast, impersonal parish associations is “pretty much the most unimaginative thing one can do”. In the long Read more
A secret report being considered by Australia’s bishops wants unprecedented reform in the church. The reforms aim to make the church more inclusive and break down the structures that contributed to decades of clergy abuse and cover-ups. – Originally reported 25 May 2020 The church could be “dramatically overhauled” to give lay people more power, Read more
The Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted on Wednesday when a vote to include women as deacons failed to attract enough support from Australian bishops. – Originally reported 7 July 2022. As a result, some delegates protested – they refused to take their seats and stood at the back of the meeting room. Read more
Thumping the armrest of his chair, Emeritis Pope, Benedict XVI smacked down conservative Catholics who failed to accept the legitimacy of Pope Francis. – Originally reported 4 March, 2021 Benedict called the conservative Catholics “fanatics”. Some hardline conservatives Catholics are unhappy with Pope Francis and have often voiced doubts about whether Benedict stepped down willingly. Read more
West Australian police’s interruption of a Catholic Mass last week for a mask check – to ensure compliance – has left parishioners concerned and Perth’s archbishop looking for a better way forward. – Originally published 10 February 2022. St Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Mount Hawthorn, Perth had to stop the Mass after a police officer Read more
A group of 500 young Catholics in Ireland have sent a jointly signed letter to the Synod Steering Committee. – Originally reported 11 August 2022. The Committee is responsible for gathering and summarising responses to questionnaires for the Irish Synodal Pathway. The young Catholics wrote that they love the Church’s teaching, but their voices have Read more
Pope Francis has revived his sex abuse advisory commission but without a Kiwi member. – Originally reported 19 February 2018 The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors sat for 3 years before its term expired two months ago. In freshening the commission Pope Francis added nine new people to its ranks, and re-appointed only Read more
A joint Catholic-Orthodox leaders’ gathering to celebrate the First Council of Nicaea’s 1,700th anniversary in 2025 is looking likely. On Sunday the Vatican published a personal letter Pope Francis wrote to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople suggesting the leaders’ gathering. That same day Cardinal Kurt Koch — who heads the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity Read more