Five South Park episodes have been pulled from US video on demand streaming service, HBO Max, because they either feature or reference the Prophet Muhammad. In the past, the series creators have been similarly disrespectful of the Virgin Mary and the pope. Neither episodes were pulled. HBO Max agreed to exclude the five animated sitcom Read more
The Catholic Church wants to change its way of doing catechesis and its way of looking at catechism. On June 25 The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation released a new Directory for Catechesis. Previously catechesis was the responsibility of the Congregation for the Clergy. The new directory underlines that every baptised person is Read more
Pope Francis has ordered a Polish bishop to leave his diocese and let someone else run it. Bishop of Kalisz, Edward Janiak must stay away while he is being investigated for covering up sexual abuse cases. He will retain the title of bishop for the meantime, however. The cases Janiak allegedly covered up featured in Read more
Spain’s bishops have promised to seek agreement on some of the positions in the socialist-led government’s program for secular reforms. Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, and Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo have agreed “to establish a broad working agenda” for a mixed commission. The meeting is the first since Omella was Read more
The German Catholic Church’s synodal way has been approved by Pope Francis, says German bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing . After meeting with Francis on Saturday, Bätzing said he felt “strengthened by the intensive exchange with the Holy Father to continue on the path we have taken. “The pope appreciates this project, which he Read more
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement estimates that 100,000 people on 45,000 devices gathered in an online Zoom event to honor the late Chabad rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson, who died in 1994, led the movement’s transition from a small and insular Hasidic sect to an outward-facing global force. Tens of thousands visit his grave in Queens, Read more
A major victory for religious liberty has followed a federal court case. The victory occurred in the decision in Soos v. Cuomo. Federal district Judge Gary L. Sharpe has removed religious gatherings from the virtual ghetto in which Governor Cuomo, his Attorney General and New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio had placed them under Cuomo’s Read more
UCANews.com founder and the news agency’s executive director for 30 years Fr Robert Astorino, died on June 25. “Bob married media professionalism to a passion for the Church in Asia to develop an outstanding news media channel”, said Michael Kelly SJ, who succeeded Astorino. Astorino established 14 news bureaus to cover 22 countries throughout Asia, Read more
A member of the Parliament of Victoria has urged that there be an inquiry into the treatment of Cardinal George Pell by the state’s police and judiciary, months after Australia’s High Court unanimously overturned his conviction for five alleged counts of sexual abuse. Bernie Finn, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from the Liberal Read more
Statues showing a light-skinned Jesus should be be pulled down, says US man Shaun King. “They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been,” King, 40, tweeted on Monday over the movement to topple monuments. He then extended his demands to include “all murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European Read more