Statues have been toppled, and at least 11 churches vandalised in Canadian protests over the historical treatment of indigenous people. Tensions boiled over after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves in residential schools. The graves are thought to belong to indigenous Canadians. A statue of Queen Victoria was toppled during protests in Winnipeg, Manitoba Read more
Archbishop Richard Gagnon has sparked anger by implying that the church is being persecuted amid widespread attention to gravesite discoveries at residential schools. Gagnon, the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the archbishop of Winnipeg, delivered a homily on Sunday. The sermon has triggered an intense backlash from many quarters. In his Read more
The pastoral council of the Archdiocese of Cologne met in mid-June with their local ordinary, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, and the mood was particularly tense. The 75 priests and lay Catholics who make up the parish council met just days after the conclusion of an apostolic visitation of the archdiocese. The Vatican investigation of the Read more
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, July 1, confirmed about 50 transgender people were invited to have their COVID vaccinations at the Vatican. Their first shots were on 3 April and their second on 24 April. The group came from a parish near Rome, where Fr Andrea Conocchia has been ministering to a transgender community Read more
A Polish Catholic archbishop sanctioned by the Vatican has defended his election as a village mayor. Archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź told Radio Zet on June 29 that his role as mayor of Piaski, in northeastern Poland, did not conflict with canon law. Canon 285 of the Code of Canon Law says that “clerics are forbidden Read more
Msgr Noel Pedregosa was driving alone on the morning of June 14 when he received a call. It was news that surprised him completely. Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, told the priest that Pope Francis appointed him as the new bishop of Malaybalay. “My immediate reaction was, Your Excellency, are you serious?” Read more
Pope Francis responded well to scheduled colon surgery, the Vatican said in a brief statement late Sunday night, eight hours after announcing the pontiff was admitted to a Roman hospital for the procedure. The operation — to address a stenosis, or potential narrowing, of his large intestine — was performed at Gemelli hospital by Sergio Read more
A Vatican judge on Saturday indicted 10 people, including a once-powerful cardinal, on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion and fraud. The indictments are in connection with the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture. The president of the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, Giuseppe Pignatone, set July 27 as the Read more
Pope Francis and United States Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met at the Vatican on Monday. They discussed religious freedom in China, the climate crisis, immigration and refugees. “The meeting was extremely warm and very wide ranging,” Blinken told reporters after the 40 minute meeting. “Speaking for myself and for the United States, I Read more
The Archbishop of Dijon has expelled a clerical religious congregation that celebrates exclusively in the pre-Vatican II or Tridentine Rite, causing tensions to rise in the community. Archbishop Roland Minnerath announced in May that he would no longer allow two Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) priests to continue to reside and offer Mass in Read more