Myanmar’s military junta has burned nearly 30,000 homes, churches and villages during the past 19 months. That’s how long it is since the junta overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government. Domestic research group Data for Myanmar says troops had torched 28,434 houses since the military seized power on 1 February 2021. This year in May and Read more
Seven women’s ordination advocates were detained outside the gates of the Vatican protesting the lack of women attending a meeting of 197 cardinals, patriarchs and priests. The women stood outside the gates of the Vatican dressed in cardinal red, each carrying a scarlet parasol emblazoned with a phrase of female empowerment. “Ordain Women”, “Reform Means Read more
A new report by the Polish Catholic bishops points to a deep divide between clergy and laity, and it stresses an urgent need to rebuild the relationship between the two groups. The report summarises the results of consultations with both the leadership and the rank and file of the Polish church. “It not a report Read more
Pope Francis on Wednesday praised former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a far-sighted statesman who was committed to improving relations among nations. In a message to Irina, Gorbachev’s daughter, Francis said he was “spiritually close in his moment of pain”. He called her father an “esteemed statesman,” and said he was grateful for Gorbachev’s “far-sighted Read more
An app called CathAssist, designed for Chinese Catholics, was shut down last week. The company behind it was unable to get a licence from the Chinese government to continue operations. According to the CathAssist team, “Since the implementation of [new rules] on 1 March, we have made various efforts to apply for an Internet Religious Read more
German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller (93), a once influential conservative prelate known to be at odds with several aspects of the Francis papacy, has asked that the right to vote in a conclave be limited to those residing in Rome. Brandmüller said that there are too many cardinals who come from faraway places, so they lack Read more
Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said he continues to have confidence in the Synodal Path of the Catholic Church in Germany. “Perhaps the communication on the reform project could have been better,” Grech said in an interview with Anna Mertens, editor of the German Catholic news agency KNA, published on 29 Read more
The Vatican acted to mend strained relations with Ukraine on Tuesday after Pope Francis upset Kyiv by referring to Russian ultra-nationalist Darya Dugina, who was killed by a car bomb near Moscow, as an innocent victim of war. Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba summoned the Vatican’s ambassador in Kyiv to protest, saying the Read more
After 150 years at St Patrick’s Church Hill in Sydney, Marist priests are planning to leave. Archbishop Anthony Fisher has publicly thanked the Marist Fathers for their decades of service at the church. St Patrick’s is the oldest church still in continuous use in New South Wales. The Marist Fathers were entrusted with the Church Read more
Seeking ways to foster religious harmony in its Buddhist-majority nation has led Thailand’s government to officially recognise three Catholic churches. The three churches have been waiting 93 years for that recognition. They were among nine religious places of worship Thailand’s Ministry of Culture officially recognised last week. Six Buddhist temples also received Government approval. Itthiphol Read more