The head of the Catholic diocese in Cairns has heavily criticised parishioners spreading coronavirus vaccine myths, labelling them divisive and ignorant. Bishop James Foley this morning said that people within his church were “campaigning against vaccination on all sorts of ill-founded prejudice”. Among the misinformation Bishop Foley said he had received were claims coronavirus vaccines Read more
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Cairns bishop condemns ‘ignorant, divisive’ parishioners peddling anti-vaccine myths
Thursday, November 18th, 2021Vatican archbishop: Traditional Latin Mass ‘experiment’ not successful in reconciling SSPX
Thursday, November 18th, 2021The Vatican’s liturgy chief said this week that Pope Francis issued Traditionis custodes as the effort to reconcile the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) “has not entirely been successful” and it is necessary to “go back” to what Vatican II required of the Church. In an interview with a television channel serving Italian-speaking Switzerland, Read more
Anglican Church under fire in wake of Liverpool suicide bombing
Thursday, November 18th, 2021The Church of England is facing questions over its role in converting hundreds of asylum seekers, including the Liverpool suicide bomber, to Christianity in an attempt to help them avoid deportation. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is understood to be appalled at the “merry-go-round” of failed asylum seekers changing religion and using other tactics to Read more
Ireland: Unmarried pregnant women abused in church-run homes to get record compensation
Thursday, November 18th, 2021Thousands of unmarried women and their children born out of wedlock who were shunned by Irish society and sought refuge in state-owned homes — where many were then abused by nuns and officials of the Roman Catholic Church — will be eligible for compensation from a new multimillion-dollar initiative the Irish government has established “in Read more
Head bishop called to apologise for labelling social justice ‘pseudo-religion’
Monday, November 15th, 2021
Nearly 10,000 Catholics, including theologians, academics and activists, have signed a petition calling for Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez to apologise for denigrating social justice movements as “pseudo-religions.” In the Nov 4 speech to the Congress of Catholics and Public Life in Madrid, Gomez framed today’s social justice activism, including the anti-racist movement in the Read more
Irish women benefit from a wait time before abortions
Monday, November 15th, 2021
Observers say the legally required wait time for women in the Republic of Ireland to further consider abortion plans after their initial consultation is resulting in fewer abortions being carried out. Irish law has a required three-day wait time before an initial abortion consultation and the abortion procedure. For pro-life advocates, this provision is significant. Read more
Anglicans create a Virtual Reality service
Monday, November 15th, 2021
The ‘Blessing of the Light’ service St Stephen Walbrook, City of London, is believed to be the first Virtual Reality (VR) service conducted by the Church of England. The evening service was recreated in 3D for an online liturgy last month. The Blessing of the Light gives thanks for Christ the light of the world Read more
Young conservative clergy a cause for concern
Monday, November 15th, 2021
A new survey of US priests has found that they are pessimistic on their views of the church. The survey found that younger clergy tend to be more conservative than their elders on many issues. “We find strong empirical confirmation of the nearly ubiquitous perception that younger priests are more orthodox in their beliefs than Read more
Survey finds a third of young Catholics expect to attend Mass less
Monday, November 15th, 2021
The good news is a US survey has found only a few – just eight percent – of young Catholics say their faith was weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic; a third, however, expect to attend Mass less often after the pandemic than before it. The CARA national survey, “Faith and Spiritual Life of Catholics in Read more