Famed actor Robert Redford waited patiently outside the Vatican on Wednesday for the chance to briefly exchange personal words with Pope Francis. Redford and his wife, German artist Sibylle Szaggars, were spotted in the general audience for the weekly Papal Mass in St. Peter’s Square. The pope, 82, and Redford, 83, clasped hands as Redford Read more
World
Plan for halting mass exodus from church underway
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
German bishops are looking for ways to halt the massive exodus from the Church in Germany caused by the clerical abuse crisis. The bishops’ conference launched a two-year “synodal procedure” for church reform last weekend, on the first Sunday of Advent. Working together with the lay Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), special synodal candles Read more
Communion denial of married lesbian judge called “very violent”
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
A priest in the United States has barred a life long parishoner and married lesbian from receiving Holy Communion. Fr Scott Nolan recently informed Kent County District Court Judge Sara Smolenski she should not receive communion at his church. The Diocese of Grand Rapids said it supports the decision. “No community of faith can sustain the Read more
Petition filed against rape protest nun’s autobiography
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
A writ petition has been filed to stop the publication and distribution of an autobiography of a nun who was part of protests against rape-accused Indian bishop Franco Mulakkal. The petition to urgently stop Sister Lucy Kalappura’s autobiography from being published has been filed in the Kerala High Court. Licia Joseph of the SMI Convent Read more
Sainthood process for Fulton Sheen delayed
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
The beatification of late Catholic Archbishop Fulton Sheen was postponed this week, marking the latest setback on the road to sainthood for the beloved television and radio preacher. Sheen was an early adopter of mass media as a form of evangelization in the United States, regularly appearing on “The Catholic Hour” radio programme from 1930 Read more
Dead Jesuits stir up trouble in Vietnam
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
Intellectuals in Vietnam are having a heated debate about a city’s plan to name streets after two 17th century Jesuit missionaries. The Jesuits are credited with systematizing the country’s official language. Since October, authorities in Da Nang have collected public opinions about a plan to name 137 streets in the southern central city by the Read more
Priest falls out of church tower
Thursday, December 5th, 2019The first Sunday of Advent did not go as merrily and peacefully for the people of Magyarbánhegyes as one would have wanted. The residents of the village lit their first candles for Father Ákos F., who lost his life on Friday when he fell out of the 25-metre-high tower of the church. The bell was Read more
Irish abuse commission says it overestimated kids in religious-run homes
Thursday, December 5th, 2019More than 10 years after its final report, the commission set up by the Irish government to investigate claims of abuse in religious-run institutions has admitted that it overestimated the number of children in the homes. In a statement Nov. 25, the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse said the number of children housed in Read more
U.S. bishop accused of sex abuse cover-up steps down
Thursday, December 5th, 2019A New York state bishop who had been at the centre of a sex abuse crisis stepped down on Wednesday after learning the conclusions of a Vatican investigation, becoming the latest high-ranking prelate toppled by the decades-old scandal. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, New York, and named Albany Bishop Read more
French cardinal bewildered by sex abuse conviction
Monday, December 2nd, 2019
French cardinal Philippe Barbarin says he does not understand why he was found guilty of covering up a priest’s sexual abuse of children. In March this year the Lyon court ruled that Barbarin, “in wanting to avoid scandal caused by the facts of multiple sexual abuses committed by a priest … preferred to take the Read more