A physicist’s exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension has seen him honoured with the NZ$1.9 million Templeton Prize for 2019. “Science doesn’t want to take God away from people, even if some scientists do,” says Marcelo Gleiser, a professor of physics and astronomy. Rather, science and spirituality represent complementary expressions of humanity’s curiosity about Read more
Catholic Church leaders in El Salvador have condemned a proposalthat would grant amnesty to those who committed serious crimes during the country’s civil conflict in the 1980s and early 1990s. Read more
For Curia Cardinal Robert Sarah the Church has become a “den of darkness” and a “cave of thieves. Certain men of God have turned into “agents of the Evil one. “We have betrayed like Judas.” Sarah calls relativism “the mask of Judas, dressed as an intellectual.” “We tolerate everything” and “Catholic doctrine is put in Read more
Five unmarried couples were whipped in Indonesia on Thursday after they were caught behaving amorously – a crime under the conservative region’s Islamic law. Read more
Dublin archbishop Dr Diarmuid Martin witnessed both dedication to the service of the Church and its darker and sadder side when he worked at the Vatican. Speaking at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth (which is Ireland’s national seminary), Martin said working at the Vatican is an unusual experience. While in a leadership position in the Read more
Local laws and court decisions regarding clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up must be respected, Fr Hans Zollner says. Zollner, who is a leading expert in child protection and one of the chief organisers of February’s summit on child protection, says the Church’s responsibility to obey the laws of the land was clarified several years Read more
Cardinal Reinhard Marx says the Catholic Church in Germany is embarking on a “binding synodal process” to tackle three key issues that arose from the clerical abuse crisis. These include priestly celibacy, the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and a reduction of clerical power. Marx, who is the president of the German bishops’ conference, says Read more
A look at recent records shows numerous attacks on houses of worship are carried out by extremists. Since 2010, for example, there have been at least 27 deadly attacks in places of worship. The following timeline offers a sample of these attacks. July 16, 2010: 27 killed and 270 injured after a double suicide bombing Read more
The Catholic Church will benefit from many new Catholics in different parts of the world this Easter. As an example, over a thousand people took part in Rites of Election at cathedrals and churches across England and Wales last weekend. All declared their hope to become Catholics at Easter. Most dioceses in the UK have Read more
Superstition is delaying the first Mass of a newly ordained priest. He also faces social exclusion in his eastern Indian village as Catholics now consider him a “bad omen” after 11 of his close relatives died in a road accident on his ordination day. Read more