Auxiliary Bishop Vicente de Paula Ferreira of the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte was threatened by an armed man after a Mass on November 12 in the suburban city of Moeda, in a sign of the political violence facing members of the clergy in Brazil. Since former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat incumbent Jair Read more
World
Progressive clergy in Brazil facing death threats after Lula’s election
Thursday, November 17th, 2022Church of Sweden to decide about priest who refuses to seal same-sex marriage
Thursday, November 17th, 2022Next week, the Synod of the Church of Sweden is to vote on a motion that sparked intense debate among believers. The main question is: should priests who object to sealing a same-sex marriage be stripped from their authority? In Sweden, priests have the authority to seal marriages as official registrars. Thus, the union they Read more
Bishops elect anti-Francis archbishop as new president
Thursday, November 17th, 2022The US bishops have sent a clear message of rejection to Pope Francis by selecting Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, as president of the bishops’ conference. The bishops’ choice of new leadership revealed the deeper ecclesiological orientation of the body. They had to decide if they wanted to be Read more
Days of the bishop as a ‘law unto himself’ are over
Monday, November 14th, 2022
Decentralisation is likely to be the order of the day from now on, says Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane. “The days of Dioceses as independent fiefdoms and the bishops as a law unto themselves are gone.” Coleridge (pictured), who is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s outgoing president, explains what he means by this in his Read more
Catholic teaching on sexuality ‘too simple’
Monday, November 14th, 2022
Catholic teaching on sexuality needs a new perspective, says German Bishop Helmut Dieser. “Same-sex feelings and love are not an aberration, but a variant of human sexuality,” he says. Homosexuals have a right to church support and blessing. Dieser (pictured), who is the spokesman on abuse issues for the German bishops’ conference, says the current Read more
Vatican’s sacked auditors sue Holy See
Monday, November 14th, 2022
Two former Vatican financial auditors – Libero Milone and Ferruccio Panicco are suing the Vatican Secretariat of State. They are demanding the Catholic Church pay for damages to their reputations caused by their unceremonious sacking in 2017. Milone (pictured with the Pope) was the Vatican’s first auditor general. Panicco was his deputy. Pope Francis appointed Read more
Parishioners urged to lobby for release of Palestinian child prisoners
Monday, November 14th, 2022
Parishioners at a US Catholic parish are being urged to lobby for Palestinian child prisoners in Israeli jails to be released. A letter sent to All Saints Church parishioners encourages them to contact Hady Amr, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs at the State Department. They should press Amr for the release Read more
Religious community seeks vocations to join sisters with Down syndrome
Monday, November 14th, 2022
A religious community that includes sisters with Down syndrome isn’t something many would expect to hear about. In fact, there’s just one in the entire world – in southern France. There, the religious community welcomes sisters with Down syndrome to live out their vocation of contemplative prayer. The Prioress, Mother Line, is now seeking able Read more
Hand grenade found among donations to Beatitudes Home in Peru
Monday, November 14th, 2022A hand grenade was found among the donations sent to the Association of the Beatitudes, a shelter that serves the elderly, orphaned children, and the homeless in Peru. Father Omar Sánchez Portillo, secretary general of Cáritas Lurín and its director, said the package with the explosive was left last weekend at the collection center in Read more
Seminaries don’t form ‘supermen,’ but humble servants, pope says
Monday, November 14th, 2022The mission of a seminary “is not to form ‘supermen’ who pretend to know and control everything,” but to help seminarians become priests who are humble servants of the communities they continue to belong to, Pope Francis said. “The Lord calls some of his disciples to be priests, that is, he chooses some of the Read more