When US Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June, they’ll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don’t receive Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights. At issue is a document that will be prepared for the US Conference of Catholic Read more
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US Catholic bishops to vote on pressuring Joe Biden to stop taking Communion over abortion views
Monday, May 3rd, 2021Ukrainian bishop says Russian troops instilling fear in border regions
Monday, May 3rd, 2021A Catholic bishop from eastern Ukraine said tensions remain high despite an announced withdrawal of Russian forces. “Nothing has changed — the great bulk of Russian forces are still here, as fighting flares intermittently and people still die,” said Bishop Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk of Odessa-Simferopol. “The east and south of Ukraine are areas of greatest Russification Read more
More Irish couples say ‘I do’ in civil ceremonies than Catholic Church weddings
Monday, May 3rd, 2021Love is all around us, as the song goes, but with Covid-19 also in the air, the number of couples opting to tie the knot last year more than halved compared to the year prior. More than 9,500 couples walked down the aisle last year, compared to 20,313 in 2019, new figures from the Central Read more
Survivors push cardinal to refuse Federal honour
Thursday, April 29th, 2021
An outcry from abuse survivor advocates has seen Munich and Freising’s archbishop refuse the German equivalent of knighthood. Cardinal Reinhard Marx says he wrote to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, declining to accept Germany’s only federal decoration. He was scheduled to receive the Federal Cross of Merit at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace today, April 30. Read more
Gin distillery fuels green-energy Catholic Church
Thursday, April 29th, 2021
The UKs Catholic bishops may have found the ultimate environmental tonic – a gin distillery – to fuel their green energy drive. They say the Catholic Church is now the biggest purchaser of green energy in England and Wales. Church buildings of all sorts all use green energy through an interdiocesan project. Over three-quarters of Read more
Mass in doubt: Police confiscate ‘illegal’ altar wine
Thursday, April 29th, 2021
Police and anti-smuggling authorities have confiscated nearly 8,000 bottles of altar wine in Canada’s predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec. The operation concentrated on three businesses in the eastern Canadian province that distribute sacramental wine to churches. At issue was a longstanding, tacit agreement between the wine suppliers and the provincial government. Police now say the Read more
Homeless get free Covid-19 vaccine, and a visit from the pope
Thursday, April 29th, 2021
Pope Francis visited homeless and needy people getting a free COVID-19 vaccine shot from his Vatican charity on Friday as he celebrated his name day, the feast of St. George. The pope, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, spent about 30 minutes chatting with people who came to the Vatican for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccinations. Read more
South Sudan bishop-elect shot
Thursday, April 29th, 2021
Pope Francis is praying for the Bishop-elect of Rumbek Catholic Diocese in South Sudan, who was wounded in an attack at his residence on Sunday night. While the motive for the shooting is not clear, some have suggested that the attack may have been a warning for the Catholic Church to keep out of the Read more
Three of seven Catholic clergy kidnapped in Haiti released
Thursday, April 29th, 2021Three of the seven Catholic clergy who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a week ago have been released. Ten people were abducted in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, on April 11, including the seven clergy. The clergy abducted were a group of four priests and a nun from Haiti, as well Read more
Church of England must shortlist minority ethnic candidates for bishop roles
Thursday, April 29th, 2021The Church of England must include at least one candidate from a minority ethnic background on shortlists for bishops and other senior roles in a drive to rid the church of “racial sin”, a report says. All governing bodies within the church, including parish councils, should have at least 15% of minority ethnic representation by Read more