Pope Francis has named Cardinal Kevin Farrell as the Vatican camerlengo. The camerlengo (chamberlain) is responsible the Vatican’s administration during the vacancy created by the death or resignation of the pope. Only the pope may choose the cardinal to fill the position of camerlengo, though he may choose instead to leave it vacant. The camerlengo Read more
Nine churches have been vandalised in 11 days during a recent spate of church desecrations in France. The desecrations have included the scattering of Eucharistic hosts and using faeces to draw a crucifix on a wall. The vandals have also smashed statues, knocked down tabernacles, burnt altar cloths and torn down crosses. Edouard Philippe, France’s Read more
An October 2018 letter to Pope Francis from a group of gay priests has been released ahead of this week’s summit in Rome about sex abuse in the Catholic church. In the letter, the Netherlands-based Working Group of Catholic Gay Pastors confront Francis on his views about homosexuality and ask him not to validate gossip Read more
Afghanistan’s future depends on women. The most active people are women, They are the bearers of a positive vision of the country’s future, says Barnabite Fr. Giuseppe Moretti, who was a missionary in Afghanistan for 25 years. “They are very intelligent and have a more open mentality than men. They try to fight slavery with Read more
The Pope says the liturgy is not about a ‘past that no longer exists’ or a ‘presumed future’ Nor can it be reduced to a matter of taste, becoming the subject of ideological polarisation, because it is a primary way Catholics encounter the Lord. Read more
Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli has enlisted the LGBTI community to help the church set a new direction after years of scandal and internal unrest. In an unprecedented move that has divided some within the church, the Archdiocese this month invited gay Catholics to a 2½-hour meeting at which they discussed how the institution should change Read more
A French priest is trying to block the film “By the Grace of God”, which was shown at a Berlin film festival, from getting full release in France. The film claims to break silence on sordid goings on within the Church. The French director’s look at the sex abuse scandal that is engulfing the Church Read more
A new book claims 80 percent of Vatican priests are gay – although not necessarily sexually active – and details how they adhere to an unspoken code of the “closet”. “Inside the Closet” will be released in eight languages across 20 countries next Wednesday – the same day as the Vatican conference on sexual abuse Read more
Pope Francis has agreed to canonise Blessed John Henry Newman, Blessed Maria Teresa Chiramel Mankidiyan and Fr Salvatore Vittorio Emilio Moscoso Cardenas (martyr). He has also declared several people to have lived lives of heroic virtue. Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. He was a 19th century theologian, poet, Catholic priest and Read more
Cardinal Walter Kasper has attacked Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s Manifesto of Faith. Kasper says the manifesto, which Müller published on Sunday, contains half-truths and blanket statements that could lead to division and confusion in the Church. Although the manifesto “contains many statements of faith that every upright Catholic can wholeheartedly affirm,” some of the truths in it Read more