The Vatican-China deal has caused two top prelates to but heads over the legitimacy of the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. One expert on Chinese affairs has stepped in insisting that the deal was not only good, but a product of more than 30 years of Vatican diplomacy. Paolo Affatato, Read more
World
Europe reels but Pope does not have Coronavirus
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Coronavirus fever has hit the press, with outright statements that Pope Francis has the COVID-19 strain of the virus. Francis, who has been coughing during several recent appearances, cancelled public events and his attendance at a week-long spiritual retreat to mark the start of each Lenten season. The Vatican has confirmed, however, that the pope Read more
Bishops issue gender identity guidelines
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Minnesota’s Catholic bishops have published guidelines regarding gender identity for Catholic schools. The guidelines stress the schools’ Catholic mission and the Church’s doctrinal teaching on sexuality and identity. “The Catholic school is committed to providing a safe environment that allows students to flourish academically, physically, and spiritually.” “Catholic schools are obliged to provide an education Read more
Four Mexican bishops suspected of sex abuse
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Four Mexican bishops are among many clergy in Mexico suspected of sex crimes. The crimes are currently being investigated by two of the Vatican’s top sex crimes investigators. The investigators are on a fact-finding and assistance mission as the world’s second-largest Catholic country begins to reckon with decades of clergy sex abuse and cover-up. Nuncio Read more
Putin proposes enshrining heterosexual marriage in Constitution
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Enshrining faith in God and heterosexual marriage in the Russian constitution has been proposed by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Another constitutional change he proposes was that the constitution’s amendments should also stipulate that marriage is a union of a man and woman. The State Duma, Russia’s lower parliamentary house, approved the constitutional reform bill’s first Read more
Catholic women in Germany want more sway in church
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Catholic women in Germany increased their demand for more sway in the Church, as a new leader of the Catholic Church in Germany was being elected this week. Women’s rights advocates presented the German Bishops Conference with a petition with over 130,000 signatures calling for more women in leadership roles. Dozens of women also gathered Read more
Vatican rejects nun’s second appeal against dismissal
Thursday, March 5th, 2020The Vatican has for a second time rejected the appeal of a nun who was expelled from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation on “disciplinary grounds” in Kerala. Sister Lucy Kalappura has maintained that the disciplinary action against her was initiated only because she participated in a protest against rape-accused catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who is facing Read more
Viral TikTok video shows teen girls celebrating, laughing during an abortion
Thursday, March 5th, 2020A TikTok video that has gone viral on social media shows two teen girls entering a Planned Parenthood, one of which appears celebratory as she is about to undergo an abortion. The video features a girl named Ashley that shows her stomach while the videographer holds Ashley’s positive pregnancy test. The video is titled “Abortion Read more
Togo puts archbishop under house arrest
Thursday, March 5th, 2020An archbishop has been placed under house arrest in Togo after calling for nationwide protests of the country’s Feb. 22 presidential election. Archbishop Philippe Fanoko Kpodzro, the retired archbishop of Lomé, called the re-election of Faure Gnassingbé a “fabricated lie,” claiming opposition candidate Agbéyomé Kodjo is the legitimate winner of the poll. Read more
German bishops elect new conference chairman
Thursday, March 5th, 2020The German bishops’ conference has elected Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg as its new chairman. Bätzing replaces the outgoing chairman, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Münich and Freising, and will lead the conference for a six year term. The election of Bishop Bätzing was confirmed Tuesday, following a vote by the German bishops at their spring Read more