A group of con men who dressed up as Catholic clergy to swindle victims out of millions of euros as been caught by Italian police. The thieves’ ruse involved dressing as priests, monsignors and cardinals and presenting themselves as “intermediaries of the Vatican” to business owners in financial trouble. They offered their victims seemingly advantageous Read more
The Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF), the Vatican financial watchdog, has said fiscal transparency is rising in the city-state in its 2020 report. It also reported the risk of fraud is lower than ever. ASIF said that in 2020 more financial transactions were flagged as suspicious by Vatican offices. Yet, after investigation, it did Read more
Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli is facing dissent from within over ambitious plans to restructure the archdiocese. Comensoli told his diocesan clergy and parish lay leaders that the diocese is on a ‘threshold’ and either we do something or ‘sink into the sunset’. He conceded the church’s painful history and parishioners abandoning the pews had Read more
Pope Francis has placed restrictions on the spread of the old Latin Mass, provoking a passionate response from laypeople and clergy alike. Traditionalist Catholics reacted strongly to the promulgation of Traditionis custodes, a motu proprio signed by Pope Francis on July 16. They decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. The Read more
Pope Francis has given bishops greater responsibility regarding use of the 1962 Roman Missal. Apostolic See guidelines say it is the bishop’s exclusive responsibility as the moderator of his diocese’s liturgical life to authorise the 1962 Roman Missal’s use. In a motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition) published on Friday, Francis restored limits Read more
The coronavirus has taken a heavy toll among Catholic priests and nuns worldwide, killing hundreds of them in a handful of the hardest-hit countries. The dead include an Italian parish priest who brought the cinema to his small town in the 1950s; a beloved New York pastor who ministered to teens and the homeless; and Read more
Russian authorities have rejected a European Court of Human Rights order to recognise same-sex unions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has reaffirmed that same-sex marriages are “not allowed” under Russia’s constitution. The Strasbourg court had issued a ruling on Tuesday urging Moscow to formally acknowledge homosexual couples. But senior Russian lawmakers have accused the court of Read more
The Cuban bishops’ conference called on the island’s government and protesters to “listen to each other” and avoid violence. The country is reeling from demonstrations sparked by food shortages, power outages and worsening economic conditions. The protests which broke out July 11 were the largest in decades. They were quickly repressed by the island’s communist Read more
Spectators have been banned from the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the area. Now the city’s Catholic archbishop has banned visitors to churches in the Archdiocese of Tokyo too. That includes athletes competing in the games and their support staff. This is according to a letter released earlier Read more
Pope Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital and returned home to the Vatican on Wednesday, 10 days after undergoing planned surgery to remove half his colon. On his way home from Gemelli Hospital, the pope stopped to pray at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the pope visited Read more