Institutional child sex abuse survivors in West Australia will not benefit from most recommendations a parliamentary inquiry found would help them. The State government rejected 22 of the inquiry’s 33 recommendations, which included allowing the names of known child abusers to be published prominently on church websites. Just 11 of the 33 inquiry committee’s recommendations Read more
The AI Jesus experiment has been deemed a success. Nearly 300 visitors to the experiment completed surveys, with many describing the experience as thought-provoking or emotionally impactful. Most visitors were aged 40 to 70, with Catholics reporting more positive reactions than Protestants. “What was really interesting (was) to see that the people really talked with Read more
Mexican Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel has defended the Vatican-approved adaptations to the Roman Rite for indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, saying Jesus didn’t celebrate Mass in Latin. The cardinal emphasised that these changes are faithful to Catholic teaching and reflect local culture, addressing traditionalist criticism. The Dicastery for Divine Worship recently approved a decree permitting Read more
Australia’s outgoing ambassador to the Holy See, Chiara Porro (pictured), has credited Pope Francis with making significant strides in women’s leadership within the Vatican during her four-and-a-half years in the role. “When I arrived, it was a time when the pope started to put women into leadership positions” Porro told CNA. “What I’ve noticed over Read more
Pope Francis welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon and hoped that it would be respected by all parties, the head of the Catholic Church said on Sunday in St Peter’s Square. Francis is now making an urgent appeal to all Lebanese politicians “so that a president of the republic is elected without delay and the institutions Read more
Pope Francis received members of the International Theological Commission on November 28 and emphasised the “need to put Christ back at the centre, and second, to develop a theology of synodality.” The Pope recalled that the year 2025 is a jubilee year dedicated to hope, as well as the 1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council Read more
Singapore hanged a 35-year-old Singaporean-Iranian man for drug trafficking on Nov 29, its fourth in less than a month, despite appeals from Tehran to “reconsider” his execution. The United Nations and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished. Still, Singaporean officials insist it has Read more
The restoration of Paris’s Notre Dame after its partial destruction by fire five years ago will give the world a “shock of hope”, Emmanuel Macron has said as he marked the medieval cathedral’s imminent reopening with a televised walking tour. Alongside his wife, Brigitte, and the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, the French president was Read more
The Vatican is working to define and potentially criminalise ‘spiritual abuse’ and ‘false mysticism’, aiming to treat them as standalone offences under Canon Law. This move follows high-profile cases where spirituality was misused to justify abusive behaviour. With Pope Francis’s approval, a working group has been established to study the issue and propose concrete legal Read more
Boris Johnson’s controversial claim linking Britain’s obesity crisis to a “spiritual void” neglected by the Church of England has drawn support from another former Conservative MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg. The former Prime Minister accused religious leaders, particularly Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, of failing to provide “spiritual sustenance”, pushing people to overeat instead. Speaking to GB Read more