A report from the charity Open Doors has warned that religious minorities face an “Orwellian existence” under growing digital persecution. It says that surveillance technology and states’ monitoring of social media has been combined with censorship and disinformation on digital platforms to target religious minorities. Open Doors, which campaigns for persecuted Christians worldwide, published the Read more
World
Biden signs abortion executive order: ‘Right to choose’ is ‘esssential’
Monday, July 11th, 2022President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday aimed at protecting abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. “This is a choice,” he said before signing the order on July 8. “A moment to restore the rights that have been taken away from us, and the moment Read more
Catholic environmentalists urge ‘new relationships’ with oceans
Thursday, July 7th, 2022
Catholic environmentalists say no innovative solution can stop pollution and protect marine life from man-made disasters. Not unless people truly change and learn to develop a ‘new relationship’ with oceans. “If we don’t feel it here [in the heart], it doesn’t matter how much, how little we have in our pocket. We’re not going to Read more
Sacramental preparation without leaving home
Thursday, July 7th, 2022
The Melbourne Archdiocese has just released a new online resource for sacraments of initiation. The aim is for people to use the resource at home. Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli says the home remains the prime location within which faith can be formed and nurtured. This was the case in the early Church. People assembled Read more
Wake-up call for Australia’s Catholics
Thursday, July 7th, 2022
The church’s falling support in Australia is a “wake-up call” for Catholics, says Archbishop Timothy Costelloe. Catholicism is battling to balance its convictions with the realities of an increasingly secular nation. 40 per cent of the population identifies having no religion and only 20 per cent identify as Catholic. That’s down from 22.6 per cent Read more
Please protect people during China’s crackdown
Thursday, July 7th, 2022
China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong has led a Catholic prelate to ask regional leaders to put people first. Give young people a reason to trust authority, Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong suggests in a special message published last Friday. Among the advantages he lists is a greater sense of unity in a Read more
Emeritus Pope Benedict physically frail
Thursday, July 7th, 2022Emeritus Pope Benedict is a very old man and physically frail. While alert and wide-awake his voice is becoming increasingly low and incomprehensible, says Archbishop Georg Gänswein. Gänswein is currently the prefect of the papal household and has been Benedict’s personal secretary since 2003. “The last few years have sapped his strength,” the Archbishop told Read more
Guys on their knees praying in Sydney’s wild weather wins a global audience
Thursday, July 7th, 2022
An amateur video of men praying the Rosary on their knees in the midst of pouring rain and wild storms currently afflicting Sydney last weekend has gone viral and been seen by more than a million people world-wide. The 30-second clip of The Men’s Rosary Crusade on the forecourt of St Mary’s Cathedral in the Read more
Catholic farmers go organic to ease Korean peninsula food crisis
Thursday, July 7th, 2022A Church-sponsored farmers’ group is promoting organic farming as an eco-friendly remedy to the food shortage caused by the climate crisis in the Korean peninsula. The Catholic Farmers Association (CFA) has developed an ‘environmental conservation-type sustainable agriculture’ and consumption method they call ‘life agriculture’, the Gwangju Catholic Peace Broadcasting Company reported. The term ‘life agriculture’ Read more
Tajikistan will no longer register any new churches
Thursday, July 7th, 2022Sulaymon Davlatzoda, the Chair of the State Committee for Religious Affairs and Regulation of Traditions, Ceremonies and Rituals (SCRA), summoned leaders of Protestant Churches to a meeting at its offices in Dushanbe in late May. “We will no longer register any new Churches. We will keep the figure of registered Churches unchanged from now on’, Read more