The Vatican has intervened with the Italian state in a proposed “anti-homophobia” law, saying that the legislation violates freedoms of the Catholic Church in Italy. Local media have called the Vatican’s intervention in Italian law “unprecedented” in the history of the relationship between the two states. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, a Read more
The brutal suppression of resistance movements by the Myanmar junta continues unabated despite Pope Francis’ call for an end to violence and pursuing dialogue towards peace. At least 875 people have been killed by Myanmar security forces since the February coup. Those killed have been primarily anti-coup protesters. Opposition to the military has gone from Read more
An Irish Catholic church has been forced to remove a Pride flag flown on the premises following backlash from the Diocese and some of the public. Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church in Dublin erected both an Irish Tricolour and an LGBT+ Pride flag last week. The flags were flown last week by decision of the parish Read more
Several inmates from one of Rome’s prisons met Pope Francis at his home on Monday. The group (pictured along with their accompanying escort), met Francis at Casa Santa Marta early in the morning before visiting the Vatican museums. With them, they brought a basket of bread they had baked earlier in the day to give Read more
A First Nations chief in southern British Columbia, Canada says there are mixed feelings in his community after a Catholic church burned to the ground in an overnight fire. It was one of two Catholic churches in the area that were destroyed in blazes that police consider suspicious. Chief Greg Gabriel of the Penticton Indian Read more
A few months after his inauguration, Bishop John Lee Juo-wang of Tainan, Taiwan has left the helm of the diocese. Pope Francis, who accepted the resignation of the 54-year-old prelate on Saturday, appointed his predecessor, Mgr Lin Chi-nan Wood, as apostolic administrator. The news took the diocese by surprise. Bishop Lee was ordained and installed Read more
A retired judge and India’s National Commission for Women are calling for the reversal of a Vatican decision confirming the expulsion of a nun from her order. Sister Lucy Kalappura, a member of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in Kerala, has been an outspoken advocate for a nun who has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Read more
A unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court ruling has confirmed Philadelphia’s Catholic Social Services’ right to refuse to foster children to same-sex couples. Plaintiff Sharonell Fulton says she is overjoyed with the decision. “My faith is what drives me to care for foster children here in Philadelphia and I thank God the Supreme Court believes that’s a Read more
The Austrian Bishops Conference (ÖBK) broke with tradition and invited women to attend the first day of its plenary assembly last week. They would be listening carefully to their views, as the conference wants to find ways to include more women in Church decision-making, says Archbishop Franz Lackner, the ÖBK president. . The 14 women Read more