Video footage released by a rights group showing a Thai soldier destroying a bamboo footbridge used by refugees from Myanmar to cross into Thailand has raised concerns over rights violations. In a segment of a 16-minute video posted online after being filmed from the Myanmar side of the Wa Le River, which separates the two Read more
World
New church opens in Vietnam’s age-old subparish
Thursday, May 12th, 2022Catholics in northern Vietnam who endured pain and suffering caused by wars, natural disasters and religious persecution have witnessed the opening of a new church. Cardinal Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, emeritus archbishop of Hanoi, formally blessed the new church – in Vinh Lai Subparish in Vu Ban district of Nam Dinh province – on May Read more
Fiji worst place for journalists says RSF
Thursday, May 12th, 2022Fiji has been ranked as the worst place in the Pacific region for journalists in the latest assessment by global press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index released this week, Fiji was placed 102 out of 180 countries – receiving an overall score of 56.91 out of 100. Read more
Moneyval upgrades Vatican’s money laundering status
Thursday, May 12th, 2022The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering inspectorate, Moneyval, has ended more than a decade of special measures and inspections over Vatican institutions, upgrading the Holy See to the watchdog’s ordinary process of assessments and evaluation to “regular” status. The move comes after Moneyval offered a broadly positive assessment of financial security progress made at the Read more
Abortion survivors choose Mother’s Day to speak out
Monday, May 9th, 2022
An immediate fallout followed last week’s leaked US Supreme Court opinion challenging the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling. That ruling protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to have an abortion. Numerous points of view are on offer. Some focus on love. Others are angry. Social media’s having a field day. Catholics, Catholicism and the Judiciary are Read more
Vatican astrophysicists develop “radically new” Big Bang maths
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Vatican astrophysicists are offering a new way to study gravity after the Big Bang that gave birth to our universe. Published in the prestigious Physical Review D journal, Fr Gabriele Gionti SJ and Fr Matteo Galaverni’s theory suggests an alternative explanation about the way gravity might have behaved as the cosmos expanded rapidly at its Read more
Ignoring divisions among Christians feeds conflict
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Doing nothing to overcome the divisions among Christians means allowing tensions to fester and even feed conflict, Pope Francis said. During a meeting on 6 May with members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Pope Francis said “Ignoring the divisions among Christians, whether out of habit or out of resignation, means tolerating that Read more
Climate crisis, not China, is biggest threat to Pacific
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Former leaders of Pacific nations have warned that the climate crisis is the biggest threat to the region, not rising military tensions. In a statement on Friday, the Pacific Elders Voice group, which includes former leaders of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Tuvalu, said that “the primary security threat to the Pacific is climate Read more
‘Gloves off’, Cardinal heavyweights ‘spar’ at Vatican Trial
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Two high profile Cardinals have gone head to head over testimony during a tribunal in what has been described as the Vatican ‘Trial of the Century.’ Australian Cardinal George Pell has accused Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu of providing “incomplete” information during his testimony and thwarting transparency efforts. In a May 6 statement, Pell accused Becciu Read more
Catholic News Service to cease
Monday, May 9th, 2022The US Conference of Catholic Bishops announced to staff on 4 May a dramatic reorganisation of its communications department, including the closure of the Washington and New York offices of Catholic News Service. In meetings with newsroom staff, James Rogers, the chief communications officer of the conference, said that the Washington office would be closed Read more