Migrants may be deterred from coming to Australia due to perceived loss of religious freedom, says opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan (pictured). In an address to the National Press Club of Australia on Tuesday, Tehan said people of faith are more likely to steer clear of Australia and prevent it from attracting the best available Read more
New data suggest that most patients with COVID-19 who have lingering symptoms at 12 months are likely to still have symptoms at 18 months. The findings are drawn from a large study of 33,281 people in Scotland who tested positive for the coronavirus. Most of the results are in line with those from earlier, smaller Read more
The United States began deporting Venezuelan migrants on Thursday through several points on the border with Mexico while sending a clear message to those hoping to enter the US that they will no longer be able to get into the country, according to the AP. Catholic church shelters in Matamoros, Ciudad Juárez and Piedras Negras, Read more
Eritrean authorities continue to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport ob 15 October. After the Catholic Church queried about the situation and his whereabouts, government authorities confirmed the bishop, who turns 52 on October 23, is in their custody. Bishop Tsalim was picked up soon Read more
As ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping lauded his government for bringing “order from chaos” with a citywide crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, an international journalists’ group said press freedom has been “gutted” in the former British colony. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it was Read more
China has intensified a crackdown on Uyghur and Kazakh Muslims. There have been mass arrests and detentions ahead of this week’s 20th national congress of the Chinese Community Party (CCP). Bitter Winter, a magazine covering human rights and religious liberty, says the dozens of detainees include religious figures and imams who had been arrested and Read more
Pope Francis announced Sunday that the planned 2023 gathering of bishops has been extended and will now take place in two stages. There will be one session in October 2023 and a second in October 2024. Resistance from some Church hierarchy and accusations the synodal process hasn’t been representative of laity were behind the Pope’s Read more
A woman serving as a vicar general’s representative has heard nothing from the Vatican since her appointment. Stephanie Rieth (pictured) began her new role in April, in the German Diocese of Mainz. She says she’s not surprised by the lack of reaction in Rome to the new arrangement, although it constitutes a unique “model” in Read more
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar has urged other Catholic leaders in Asia to move from ‘words to action’ when it comes to the Mission of the Church. Addressing fellow Church leaders in the region this week, Bo, the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), stressed the need for a “missionary Church Read more
A highly regarded researcher says that most of the questions in an international survey of Catholic women have a bias, leading to a focus on ordination for women, women preachers and LGBTIQ inclusion. University of Western Australia academic Dr Philippa Martyr said while the full report of the international survey contained rich material from the Read more