During his ten years as pontiff, Pope Francis has made Americans on both sides of the political aisle uncomfortable, according to Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Gregory (pictured), the archbishop of Washington DC, spoke at an event hosted by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. He noted that the pope’s emphasis on caring Read more
A Polish TV report has claimed that Pope John Paul II, when he was Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, knew about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church but failed to take appropriate action. The report aired on TVN24, a major news channel in Poland, and has sparked controversy among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. A former priest named Read more
The Church’s largest ever study of Catholic women has found they are hungry for reform. Women resent their lack of decision-making power and want to follow their consciences on sex and contraception. They think the Church should be more inclusive of the diverse and the divorced. Women also want to be allowed to preach, they Read more
Worshippers of all religions in China’s Henan province must register online for permission to attend all prayer services in religious worship places. Approval from the provincial religious department is needed for anyone wanting to attend services in churches, mosques or Buddhist temples, ChinaAid reports. Worshippers make their online reservations and appointments through a “Smart Religion” Read more
Continuing a trend that has accelerated in recent years, Pope Francis on March 4 united two Italian dioceses in persona episcopi [in the person of the bishop]. While continuing to govern the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina (which was formed from a 1976 diocesan merger), Archbishop Antonio Giuseppe Caiazzo will also govern the Diocese of Tricarico. It Read more
The Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has failed to agree on the blessing of same-sex unions. After four sessions of “quietly impassioned, but respectful debate” — the Synod’s first in-person meeting since the Covid lockdowns — the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, announced that the Bishops were Read more
Carlos Medina, the husband of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell’s housekeeper, has admitted to murdering the bishop, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a press conference on Wednesday. “He admitted that he had done the killing and we believe we recovered the weapon that they were using, and we have other evidence Read more
Tensions are rising in the Catholic Church in Germany ahead of this week’s final assembly of the controversial “synodal way.” Speaking days before the March 9-11 gathering in Frankfurt, the initiative’s co-president Irme Stetter-Karp expressed surprise at the German bishops’ plan to submit changes to documents that may struggle to gain a two-thirds majority of Read more
US Cardinal Robert McElroy is a heretic, hints a US Catholic bishop in an essay called ‘Imagining a Heretical Cardinal’. In his ‘First Things’ magazine article, conservative prelate and canon lawyer Thomas Paprocki (pictured) cites an unnamed cardinal’s views on how the Church should minister to LGBTQ people and divorced and remarried Catholics. While he Read more
The oil that will be used to anoint King Charles III during his coronation has been consecrated by senior clergymen in Jerusalem. The oil was pressed from olives harvested on the Mount of Olives, and has been perfumed with sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin, amber oil and orange blossoms. The ceremony was conducted by Read more