Pope Francis has dispatched a team of papal representatives to provide supplies and comfort to victims of a massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6. Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Charity, and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Oriental Churches, have been on the Read more
A significant minority of Americans would favour genetic screening of embryos simply to boost their child’s chance to attend an elite university, a new survey indicates. Several bioethics experts and economists designed the survey to explore public opinion about in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and the hypothetical genetic testing of embryos before they are implanted in the Read more
Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy for Life on Monday that it faces an enormous task in evaluating the ethics of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and human enhancement. The pope asked the academy on Feb. 20 to “ensure that scientific and technological growth is reconciled more and more with a parallel development 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
Pope Francis revealed to Jesuits working in Congo that he twice refused to become a bishop. He said he took seriously the promise he made with all Jesuits to not seek offices of authority and power in the church. Francis met with Jesuits in Congo and in South Sudan during his visit to the two Read more
Ahead of a Vatican conference, several church officials have emphasised the importance of empowering laypeople without “clericalising” them. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, spoke of “co-responsibility” between clergy and laity, saying, “It does not mean that the laity in the church have to become clerics, and clerics Read more
As artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT continue to advance, many suggest they lack soul and sermons written by AI cannot replicate the passion of actual preaching. While some clergy may believe ChatGPT and other AI tools can write passably competent sermons, there is an evolving consensus that they lack the soul that comes from Read more
Nineteen Dutch women have taken the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to court. The women have accused them, condemning them to years of forced labour, while keeping them locked up in convents. They were “abused on industrial scale,” the women say. The case before the Haarlem district court relates to about 15,000 teenage Dutch girls. Read more
A hero of the 2017 London Bridge attack could be made a saint, since Pope Francis has opened a new way to canonisation. Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria, 39, became known as the ‘skateboard hero’ after he used his board to beat Islamist attackers during the Borough Market attack. Three terrorists – who had already driven a Read more