The Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Charles Balvo, is upbeat about the changing role of the Church. “There are new opportunities to evangelise right in front of us”, he observed enthusiastically after visiting the Archdiocese of Brisbane. During his visit, he found himself alongside Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge aboard a helicopter flying high above a Read more
Catholics in Dublin are facing a new era where lay members of the community will be leading liturgies formerly conducted by priests. It’s just a matter of time before they’ll be conducting funerals, marriages and baptisms in the Dublin archdiocese and elsewhere, a diocesan spokesman says. They’ll be doing everything but celebrating the Mass and Read more
Pope Francis said Wednesday that the traditions of the Church should not be based on opinion or ideological leanings but on whether they favour the proclamation of the Gospel. “Everything in the Church must be conformed to the requirements of the proclamation of the Gospel; not to the opinions of the conservatives or the progressives, Read more
Father Vyacheslav Grynevych vividly remembers the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine one year ago. The Catholic priest woke up to a phone call: “Father, wake up because the war has started.” “I understood that my life would never be the same as before,” Grynevych said. A few days ahead of the Read more
Earlier this month, two Poor Clare nuns were expelled from religious life for defying a Vatican order to abandon their 13th-century convent on Italy’s Amalfi coast. Now 13 Benedictine sisters in Tuscany could face a similar fate as they too resist a Vatican decree, which involves the removal of their mother superior. The drama centres Read more
The Holy See and Oman have established full diplomatic relations, leaving only six countries worldwide without any diplomatic connection to the Vatican. The announcement on Feb 23 did not come as a surprise because in November, during Pope Francis’ trip to Bahrain, there had been contact between the Vatican and Oman’s Foreign Ministry. The agreement Read more
Anglican archbishops in Africa are challenging the decision by the Church of England to allow clergy to bless same-sex couples’ marriages, a move that may lead to a split in the church. The Church of England’s General Synod voted on February 9 to permit the offering of prayers and liturgies at civil marriages. This compromise Read more
During a recent event Pope Francis stressed the importance of prioritising the care of people and evangelisation in the application of the Catholic Church’s canon law. Francis spoke at a February 14-18 course sponsored by the Roman Rota, a Vatican tribunal that deals primarily with marriage cases. The pope challenged the idea that canon law Read more
A much loved Los Angeles bishop’s murder has led to his housekeeper’s husband being arrested. Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was found dead with a gunshot wound to his upper torso in the bed of his home on Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities confirmed the arrest of the housekeeper’s husband on Read more
A Catholic bishop in the Phillippines has ordered a probe into a suspected ‘fake’ ordination. Philippine Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Maasin, who ordained John Baptist Ho Huu Hoa a priest last December, admitted that the controversy over the ordination “is truly unfortunate and upsetting.” “We are now taking the necessary steps and procedures which will Read more