The chairman of Germany’s Catholic bishops’ conference has responded to strong criticisms of the ‘Synodal Way’ by his Polish counterpart. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Germany (pictured on the left) was answering criticisms levelled at Germany’s Synodal Way by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznan, Poland (pictured on the right). Bätzing explained that the Synodal Way Read more
Ukrainian refugees, especially women and children, need to be protected from human traffickers say Catholic Church leaders. “Let us think of these women and children who in time, without work, separated from their husbands, will be sought out by the ‘vultures’ of society. Please, let us protect them,” tweeted Pope Francis. Catholic aid workers’ concerns Read more
Pope Francis has added his voice to new Vatican guidelines on providing an intercultural ministry for migrants. The guidelines “invite us to broaden the way that we experience being church,” Francis wrote in the preface to the “Pastoral Orientations on Intercultural Migrant Ministry”. Developed by the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Read more
A professor of theology at a university in Canada has labelled an indigenous group’s upcoming meeting with Pope Francis a ‘moment of crisis’ for Canadian catholics. “It’s a moment of crisis – existential crisis – for catholics in the pews,” said Darren Dias, a theology professor at the University of St Michael’s College in Toronto. Read more
An Irishwoman who advised Pope Francis on clerical abuse has warned that reforms of the Roman Curia will further erode the independence of the Vatican body. Marie Collins (pictured), a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, who served on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said she was concerned that the Vatican reforms could Read more
On Friday, in a move that raised the eyebrows of some, Pope Francis consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A good Jesuit, Francis is applying the maxim “Pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you,” a Vatican official told La Croix’s Loup Besmond de Senneville. Read more
Republican Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia signed into law the Unborn Child with a Disability Protection and Education Act, which will prohibit an unborn child from being aborted due to a diagnosis of a disability. He announced he had signed the bill in a tweet to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21. Read more
EWTN Global Catholic Network has launched an Arabic-language news service headquartered in Erbil, Iraq, Michael P Warsaw, EWTN’s Chairman and CEO, announced on March 25, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. The Association for Catholic Information Middle East and North Africa, or ACI MENA, will publish original news content in Arabic using a network of Read more
Plans for Pope Ted, the musical based on ’90s sitcom Father Ted, have reportedly been axed following continued clashes between the programme’s creator, Graham Linehan, and trans-rights activists. In an interview with the BBC’s Stephen Nolan on March 24 (as reported by Chortle), the writer explained how his career has dissolved and how he’s lost Read more
Catholics in southeast China have taken to the front line to battle a new Covid-19 outbreak that has been raging across various Chinese territories. In parishes of Jiangxi province, Catholics are involved in preventive measures including testing, contact tracing and other forms of medical assistance, says a report from the state-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference of the Read more