Online services are hitting the spot with about a quarter of Americans, a Pew Research Centre poll has found. The November 2022 survey of over 11,000 US adults focused on how many were engaging in online worship and how they felt about the experience. Post-pandemic, the online option is still a popular choice. While most Read more
A 16th-century Catholic church, known as the Temple of Quechula, has become a prominent attraction since emerging from a reservoir during a severe drought in Mexico. Situated in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, this historic structure was built by Dominican Order members during the era of Spanish colonialism. Since the construction of a dam Read more
A new report has revealed that 61 countries encompassing 62% of the world’s population severely or totally restrict religious freedom. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has released its latest edition of the Religious Freedom Report, shedding light on the increasing persecution faced by individuals and communities worldwide. The report, published every two years Read more
Pope Francis is determined to go to World Youth Day (WYD) in August. He’ll be there despite illness, post-anaesthesia breathlessness and other medical problems. The 86-year old underwent three hours of abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia on 7 June. Yet despite his age, his health is definitely improving. His surgeon says Francis is “better than Read more
A top anti-abuse expert has highlighted the lack of accountability by the Catholic Church in implementing safeguarding norms established to protect children and vulnerable individuals. While the Church has been praised for its efforts in establishing norms to protect individuals from abuse, “we don’t have a culture of accountability when it comes to the implementation Read more
The owners of a pair of taco restaurants in Northern California were ordered to pay $140,000 (NZD227,000) in back pay and damages to 35 employees for bringing in a purported priest to extract confessions of workplace misconduct. Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Galindo and Alejandro Rodriguez also failed to pay overtime for time worked past a 40-hour Read more
As Pope Francis met with dozens of international artists at the Sistine Chapel on Friday, he sought both to reaffirm the Roman Catholic Church’s commitment to artistic endeavours and to enlist the artists to act as catalysts for change in areas like social justice. Yet as the group sat amid Renaissance frescoes by the likes Read more
A Thai bishop has appealed to his flock to welcome and help refugees who arrived over a week ago from civil war-torn areas of Myanmar. More than 4,000 refugees, most of them Catholics, have entered the Thailand border areas and are “knocking at our front doors, seeking refuge,” said Bishop Francis Xavier Vira Arporndratana of Read more
Broken Rites, a support group for divorced and separated clergy spouses and partners, marked the 40th anniversary of its founding on 10 June. Despite significant social changes over four decades, its work shows no signs of being made redundant. The trigger for its establishment in 1983 had been a letter to the church press from Read more
The Vatican has released a 50-page working document urging Roman Catholic bishops to engage in discussions regarding LGBTQ+ inclusion and the role of women within the church. The document, called Instrumentum Laboris (Latin for “working document”), is based on the input gathered from a two-year worldwide global synod, where Catholics were invited to share their Read more