Pope Francis has changed the Church’s regulations to allow religious brothers who are not priests to lead their religious communities with Vatican permission. In a “rescriptum ex audientia” issued May 18, the pope said that the Vatican congregation overseeing religious orders can, in individual cases and at its own discretion, grant permission for non-priest religious Read more
World
Brazil’s Catholic bishops raise their voices against mining on indigenous land
Thursday, May 19th, 2022As the ecological crisis in Brazil continues to get worse, the country’s Roman Catholic bishops have become more vocal about its causes, denouncing collaboration between government officials and corporations to carry out destructive mining projects in areas occupied by indigenous peoples. On May 5, Bishop José Ionilton Lisboa de Oliveira of Itacoatiara in Amazonas state, Read more
Caritas has assisted more than 1.2 million people in Ukraine
Thursday, May 19th, 2022Facing the trauma of conflict requires love and hope, and Caritas has been hard at work sharing this “medicine” with everyone, said the director of Caritas-Spes. The war will not end with just a peace agreement, said Pallottine Father Vyacheslav Grynevych, director of the charitable arm of the Latin-rite Catholic dioceses in Ukraine. “The war Read more
King and Queen of Jordan given Path to Peace Award
Thursday, May 19th, 2022King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan were awarded the 2022 Path to Peace Award for their role in promoting interfaith harmony and dialogue. The monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the “protector” of the Islamic and Christian Holy Places in Jerusalem has worked with much determination so that Christians and Muslims Read more
Anglicans and Presbyterians ‘valued traveling companions’
Monday, May 16th, 2022
Members of the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches are among the Catholic Church’s “valued traveling companions”, says Pope Francis. Speaking to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission (ARCIC) last Friday, Francis said he hoped that Anglicans would contribute to the two-year initiative leading to the Synod on Synodality in Rome in 2023. “For this common journey Read more
Parents and church clash over school values
Monday, May 16th, 2022
Under rules recently set by the Sydney Anglican diocese, the next principal of Australia’s oldest private girls’ school can accept the job only if they agree that marriage is just between a man and a woman. St Catherine’s is in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where more than 80 per cent of residents supported same-sex marriage in Read more
Cardinal Zen’s arrest keeps people scared
Monday, May 16th, 2022
Catholics from mainland China fear the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen in Hong Kong is an act of intimidation and a sign of hardening attitudes by authorities. Cardinal Zen, 90, is one of four people detained for being associated with a now-defunct fund that helped protesters in financial need. The fund was set up to Read more
Sri Lankan religious leaders criticise new PM’s appointment as protests continue
Monday, May 16th, 2022
Sri Lankan religious leaders, including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, have criticised the president’s appointment of a new prime minister as unconstitutional and unethical. “The decision to appoint [Ranil] Wickremesinghe as the prime minister is in complete opposition to the will and aspirations of the people,” said Cardinal Ranjith after the announcement was made through the media Read more
The horror story of forced organ harvesting
Monday, May 16th, 2022
Forced organ harvesting is a business affecting tens of thousands of individuals of “various religions” in China. People are being killed for their for body parts, including skin and the Western medical community is enabling the crimes by using the organs. The facts were proclaimed by US congressman Chris Smith last Thursday during a discussion Read more
Make the past the source of inspiration, not the destination
Monday, May 16th, 2022
We need to use the past as a source of inspiration while moving forward, instead of wanting to go back to the way things were in the past, says Pope Francis. It’s not Christian. Wanting to go back in time is different from drawing inspiration from one’s roots in order to move forward with Christ. Read more