It is urgent Catholics renew the Church in innovative ways with ideas that reform and revitalize it. The comment was made by Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga (pictured with Pope Francis) while talking with participants at the Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean. Maradiaga is the coordinator of the council of cardinals that advises Read more
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned that religious Australians should not be “cancelled, persecuted or vilified” because of their beliefs. Instead, Morrison insisted, people of faith must be defended from those who seek to marginalise and silence them. After tabling the government’s religious discrimination bill in parliament on Thursday, Morrison said faith groups and Read more
A group of French Catholics have written to Pope Francis’ ambassador describing the qualities they expect their next bishop to possess. Some 50 laypeople are seeking to influence the type of person who will be appointed to replace Roland Minnerath, the current Archbishop of Dijon. Msgr Minnerath turned 75 on Saturday, the age when bishops Read more
The Constitutional Court of Colombia has overturned a lower court’s decision that forced Colombian influencer Erika “Kika” Nieto to take down a video in which she expressed her Christian belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. “No one should be censored or fear criminal penalties for expressing their beliefs,” said Santiago Guevara, Read more
The criminal court case surrounding Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston has been postponed until 2022 as the global evangelical church network leader faces allegations that he helped cover up his father’s sexual abuse of a minor. Australian news service Eternity News reported that the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney deferred the pastor’s Read more
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has on Friday blamed foreign interference over his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital Honiara in recent days. But critics also blamed the unrest on complaints of a lack of government services and accountability, corruption Read more
Health leaders are urging thousands of unvaccinated pregnant women to get vaccinated after the first official data from England found Covid jabs are safe and effective. The analysis of more than 350,000 deliveries by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows women who have had a Covid vaccine are no more likely than unvaccinated women Read more
At the beginning of an Italian bishops’ conference plenary session, Pope Francis gave each a copy of a text called “The Beatitudes of the Bishop”. Originally written by the archbishop of Naples for his homily when ordaining three bishops last month, the eight “beatitudes of the bishop” loosely correspond with those spoken by Jesus in Read more
In his new book, “Il Velo del Silenzio” (“Veil of Silence”) Italian journalist and author Salvatore Cernuzio writes of meeting a childhood friend who had joined a cloistered community of nuns. Ten years later, a “tribunal” of older sisters decided she did not have a vocation and sent her packing. Just days earlier, Jesuit Father Read more
The Austrian Catholic bishops’ conference are discouraging Catholics from celebrating the sacraments of Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and Marriage during the national lockdown. Bishop Anton Leichtfried, the conference’s liturgy chair, said: “These celebrations are now to be postponed as much as possible in the interest of fellow celebrants.” The bishops also clarified rules for attending Read more