Seven women are among the new members Pope Francis appointed to the Roman Curia’s all-male Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This is the first time women have been appointed to these Vatican departments. The women will also, for the first time, be able to have a say over Read more
Muslims in France are standing with Catholics grieving Paris’s fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral. Their vision of an inter-religious gathering to show their support was realised in Paris last Saturday, when they joined with Catholics and Christians of other religions in song and prayer. The celebration of inter-faith togetherness was organised by Christian movement Efesia as Read more
The Vatican has waived diplomatic immunity for its ambassador to France, Archbishop Luigi Ventura, who is being investigated for sexual assault. In doing so, the Vatican has cleared the way for Ventura (74) to face criminal charges in France. This decision to waive diplomatic immunity is unprecedented in the history of modern Vatican diplomacy. “This Read more
Australian Christians are not suffering from religious persecution says Baptist minister, leading Australian religious figure and social justice advocate Tim Costello. He is asking fellow Christians to “calm down” about their alleged persecution. His comments come amid a brewing political storm over how the government should act to protect against religious discrimination. Costello, a senior Read more
Pope Francis has been bombarded with insults after urging Catholics to pray for migrants. “Migrants are first of all human persons, and they are the symbol of all those rejected by today’s globalised society,” he tweeted on Monday. However, Italian Twitter users were unimpressed with his views. Some responded asking Francis to think instead of Read more
The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio says it has delivered the first baby in North America from a womb transplanted from a dead donor. Uterine transplants have enabled more than a dozen women to give birth, usually with wombs donated from a living donor such as a friend or a relative. In December, doctors in Brazil Read more
An attorney says a Catholic high school teacher fired for being in a same-sex marriage has reached a settlement in which the Indianapolis school will help the teacher with future employment options. Attorney Kathleen DeLaney announced the settlement with Cathedral High School in a news release on Tuesday. In it, the teacher thanks Cathedral for Read more
In a last-minute twist, a California bill that would have required priests to break the sacramental seal of confession was shelved by its sponsor amid a remarkable grassroots campaign mounted by the state’s Catholics, members of other faith groups, and religious liberty advocates from across the country. S.B. Bill 360 was withdrawn the day before Read more
There are plenty of artefacts showing women were present at the altars as priests and bishops in the early church, says researcher and historian Dr Ally Kateusz. The trouble is, nobody’s noticed them or they’ve been hidden – some as recently as 1916. The artefacts may help in the current debate over female ordination, which Read more
President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis met at the Vatican last Thursday to discuss environmental issues, the Catholic Church in Russia and current affairs in Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. It was Putin’s third meeting with Pope Francis and fifth visit to the Vatican. At the end of the 55-minute private meeting, Alessandro Gisotti from the Read more