Several major Italy dioceses cancelled Ash Wednesday services and have suspended public Masses. Others are doing nothing. Among the dioceses taking extended precautionary measures is Veneto. School and major public events have been cancelled until 1 March. The Venice Carnival has also been cancelled, as have several major sporting events. Museums are closed. Some areas Read more
A nun from Singapore is on this year’s BBC list of 100 influential and inspiring global women. Good Shepherd Sister Gerard Fernandez, who has led the Catholic Church’s prison ministry in Singapore for four decades, was startled by her nomination. “The Lord has many surprises. This was one of them,” the 81-year old said when Read more
A new online faith formation platform was launched in Ireland, Wednesday. Called to More aims to help young Catholics know their faith by providing high-quality online content. On its website Called to More offers podcasts and articles and promotes itself on Facebook and Instagram. Today Co-Founder Katie Ascough says Called to More seeks to communicate Read more
Human trafficking violations have led to a petition on change.org to call for a popular porn website to be shut down and its executive held accountable. The 207,000-signature petition says: “We already have evidence, and it is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s time to shut down [this] super-predator site … and hold the Read more
The Jesuits in Britain will ditch fossil fuel companies from its $500 million equity portfolio by the end of the year. It is the largest Catholic religious order in the UK so far to join the global divestment movement. The fossil fuel divestment is just part of an in-depth examination of the orders investments which Read more
A group of clergy abuse survivors gathered in Rome on Feb. 21, one year after the Vatican summit of bishops on clerical sex abuse, to accuse Pope Francis of knowing about the abuse of Argentine deaf children by an Italian priest but not acting to stop it. The group, who included some of the Argentinian Read more
It has emerged that a second nun of the Missionaries of Jesus has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur of sexual harassment. The bishop has been charged with raping a nun repeatedly over the course of two years, allegations he denies. The first nun, who is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, has said Read more
President Trump is in strong shape among Roman Catholic voters who are serious about practicing their faith. But among categories in America’s largest single faith — ranging from occasional church-goers to non-practicing Catholics — support for the president drops dramatically. Trump, in fact, loses among non-devout Catholics to all of the major Democratic presidential hopefuls. Read more
L’Arche founder Jean Vanier has been accused of sexual misconduct. The allegations follow months of investigation into the man praised by popes and politicians for his humanitarian work in establishing a global network of institutions serving adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. The accusations involve six women of various “ages, geographic origin and status – Read more
A teen has been beatified, a martyr and a missionary will be canonised, a priest and two lay companions recognised as martyrs and three priests’ and an engineer’s heroic virtues as Servants of God have been approved. Venerable Carlo Acutis The teenager, computer geek and leukemia victim will be beatified. The Medical Council of the Read more