An influential church official’s home and office have been raided by Vatican police. Documents and computers were seized during the raid that focused on Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, a former top deputy in the Catholic Church’s powerful Secretariat of State, according to a Vatican statement. Perlasca serves on the influential managing board of several key financial Read more
Laws requiring clergy to report child abuse to authorities — even if it’s heard in the confession box — will come into effect on Monday, ending the “special treatment” for Victoria’s religious institutions. The seal has now been lifted for the suspected sexual abuse of children, with spiritual and religious leaders required to report the Read more
Mgr Joseph Zhu Baoyu bishop of Nanyang in southwest China is believed to be the oldest patient to have recovered from the coronavirus. The 98-year-old pastor was diagnosed with Covid-19 pneumonia on February3. He has tested negative since 12 February and was given the all-clear on February 14. Bishop Zhu was treated at the central Read more
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis had approved changes to Caritas Internationalis’ governing statutes and internal rules. The new statutes had been in effect since May 2019 after a decree from the Vatican Secretariat of State approved changes made by the general assembly of Caritas. Pope Francis approved the amended statutes and internal rules Read more
Vatican-China diplomatic relations seem to be warming up, with their foreign ministers meeting for the first time in 50 years. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for Relations with States, and the foreign minister of the People’s Republic of China and counsellor of state, Wang Yi, met in Germany last Friday. They were both attending the Read more
Cardinal George Pell’s final opportunity to have his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year old choirboys overturned is only a month away. His lawyers will be pleading his case in the High Court of Australia March 11-12. Although the hearing is only weeks away, the full bench of Australia’s highest court — either five or Read more
Coronavirus and the threat of its spreading through populations is resulting in many religious leaders cancelling services and suggesting the faithful follow services online. There will be no masses in Hong Kong before the end of this month, while in Singapore masses have been suspended until further notice. Similarly, the Churches are suspending large public Read more
Pakistani Muslim villagers are helping rebuild a Catholic church in the eastern city of Gujranwala. The foundation stone of St. Mary’s Church, which is being rebuilt to accommodate more worshipers, was laid in the Butranwali district of Gujranwala in November last year. Around 50 Christian families are estimated to be living in the Muslim-majority community Read more
The door is still open on married priests and women deacons. Although Pope Francis’s exhortation on the Amazon bypasses making decisions about women deacons and married priests, there is still room to move, say number of the pope’s close advisors. In the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), Pope Francis released last week , Read more
A high court in Pakistan has ruled that men can marry underage girls, under Sharia law, after they have experienced their first menstrual cycle. Sharia law is the religious law of Islam derived from the teachings of the Quran, which acts as a divine code or guide for living. The ruling was made by the Read more