Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, 64, has been on “extended medical leave” off the island of Guam, Archdiocesan Vicar General Father Romeo Convocar said on Tuesday. But the archdiocese did not provide further details about the medical condition, and whether it’s something that could prolong Byrnes’ absence from Guam. “Please continue to pray for our archbishop. Read more
World
Taliban allow high school graduation exams for Afghan girls
Thursday, December 8th, 2022Afghan girls will be allowed to take their high school graduation exams this week, an official and documents from the Taliban government indicated Tuesday — even though they have been banned from classrooms since the former insurgents took over the country last year. According to two documents from the Taliban ministry of education, obtained by Read more
Francis headed to South Sudan where people eat leaves to survive
Monday, December 5th, 2022
Around 40 percent of the people in Amothic, South Sudan are eating leaves off trees to survive. Some of the children have diarrhoea from eating them. Half the village is eating their seed stocks too, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NCR) reports. While NRC is helping around 100,000 South Sudanese, those eating their seed stocks means Read more
Pope’s women priests explanation “misogynistic drivel”
Monday, December 5th, 2022
Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, has accused Pope Francis of “misogynistic drivel”. McAleese’s comment followed an interview Francis had with a US-based Jesuit magazine last month. Women are not being deprived by being denied the right to become priests, he told America magazine last month. Emailing Francis via the Vatican, McAleese pulled no punches in Read more
Layman appointed as Vatican finance czar
Monday, December 5th, 2022
Fr Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves is to step down after three years as prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, and a layman has been appointed to replace him. The 63-year-old Spanish Jesuit cited health reasons for his decision, and Maximino Caballero Ledo (pictured), the institution’s secretary general since August 2020, will take his Read more
Church urged to focus on young people with AIDS
Monday, December 5th, 2022
World AIDS Day was marked on 1 December with some priests, church and agency officials saying the Catholic Church must focus more on young people living with HIV in Africa. “There is a need (for the churches) to do more. “Unfortunately, this is the category of the youth who are at risk of being invisible Read more
‘Black’ Christmas tree highlights climate crisis
Monday, December 5th, 2022
Seoul Archdiocese in South Korea has installed a Christmas tree with charred branches and logs of trees from a recent forest fire to raise awareness of environmental issues and the climate crisis. Professor Cho Seong-hyeon of Hansung University stated that every year environment-related themes are chosen to highlight the importance of climate action. “We made Read more
Give joyful witness and lobby hard for families
Monday, December 5th, 2022
Amidst Italy’s falling birthrate, groups helping Italian families must give joyful witness and lobby hard for family life, Pope Francis says. “We are living in a serious demographic winter, and we must react to it with all our force, with our work, with our ideas,” he said as he welcomed Italian Forum of Family Associations Read more
North Korea forcing citizens to change their names to sound more ideological
Monday, December 5th, 2022In the past, North Koreans were encouraged to give their children patriotic names that held some ideological or even militaristic meaning, such as Chung Sim (loyalty), Chong Il (gun), Pok Il (bomb) or Ui Song (satellite). In recent years, though, as the county has become more open to the outside world, North Koreans have been Read more
Same-sex households in the US surpass 1 million for the first time
Monday, December 5th, 2022The number of same-sex couple households in the US has surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to recently released government data. There were more than 1.2 million same-sex couple households across the country in 2021, up from 540,000 in 2008, an increase of 120%, the data, taken from the Census Bureau’s annual American Read more