Lawyers defending those accused of defrauding the Vatican in a $400 million real estate investment asked judges on Wednesday (Nov 17) to release written transcripts of Pope Francis’ statements on the deal, alleging that prosecutors’ use of the pontiff’s statements may have influenced another witness in the case. From the start of the trial in Read more
According to newly published data from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the number of hate crimes against Christians in Europe rose sharply in 2020. The OSCE data, published Nov 16, documented 980 incidents against Christians, including arson attacks on Catholic churches, desecration and robbery of Eucharistic hosts, assaults on priests, and anti-Catholic Read more
The director of Caritas Poland said on Thursday that the charity will continue to help those in need for as long as the Belarus border crisis lasts. Speaking at a press conference in Podlipki, northeastern Poland, on Nov 18, Fr Marcin Iżycki stressed that the charity was also attentive to the needs of the local Read more
The leader of a Philippines-based church was charged with having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to the self-proclaimed “son of God,” federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Apollo Carreon Quiboloy and two of his top administrators are among nine people named in a superseding indictment Read more
Prince Edward delivered Her Majesty’s speech to bishops and clergy at the General Synod after she cancelled her appearance last week following medical advice for her to rest. Before the address, the Earl of Wessex said the monarch sent her “sincere and deep apologies that she cannot be here today”. “I think you probably understand Read more
Pope Francis has announced two Irish dioceses will be combined in a union under one bishop, a move aimed at streamlining the church’s hierarchy without depriving any town of its cathedral. One bishop will be appointed by Pope Francis to the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora and the Diocese of Clonfert. The change was Read more
Better guidelines are needed to protect the sacrament of reconciliation as a “channel of grace” for sexual abuse victims, says Jesuit Father Hans Zollner. “If the church did more to help confessors be empathetic listeners as well as skilled interpreters of the church’s moral teaching, it would make it clearer that the sacrament of reconciliation Read more
Karine Dalle, spokeswoman and undersecretary for the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) has been fired, two and a half months after taking office. Although the bishops say Dalle’s “trial period has not been confirmed” she says she had “been fired”. Her dismissal follows various slip-ups in communications after the release of an independent report into sexual Read more
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reignited the Australian religious freedom fight with a reworked bill protecting expressions of faith-based views even if they offend others. Morrison’s religious discrimination bill, a 2019 election pledge, will shield Australians from prosecution if they express reasonable and genuinely held faith-based views despite offending others. Senior government sources said the Read more
The Pope’s apostolic nuncio to the United States addressed the US bishops on Tuesday, where he stressed, “a divided church will never lead people to where it should be.” In a 30 minute address during the two-day US bishops’ general assembly, Archbishop Christophe Pierre spoke about synodality, abortion, racism and the Eucharist. He also emphasised Read more