Catholics in India are celebrating the resignation of a corrupt Catholic bishop. Pope Francis agreed to the resignation of the bishop who is facing allegations of stealing funds to maintain his “secret family.” Read more
World
Australian archbishop’s abuse cover-up conviction quashed
Monday, December 10th, 2018
Adelaide’s former archbishop, Philip Wilson, has had his sex abuse cover-up conviction quashed by an Australian appeal court. Wilson had been found guilty in May of concealing the abuse of altar boys in the 1970s by paedophile priest James Fletcher. At the time, he was the most senior cleric in the world ever to be Read more
Bishops should be killed says Filipino president
Monday, December 10th, 2018
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte says bishops should be killed. In a speech last week, Duterte accused bishops of being useless because they criticised his administration, which came to power in 2016. Besides deriding Church leaders as “useless fools” who worship a “stupid” god, Duterte called the Church “the most hypocritical institution” for casting doubt on Read more
Priest burnt in sulphuric acid attack during confession
Monday, December 10th, 2018
A 59-year old priest in Nicaragua has been injured in a sulphuric acid attack while hearing confessions. Fr Mario Guevara was taken to hospital to be treated for severe burns to his face, arms, and shoulders. The alleged attacker, 24 year old Elis Leonidovna Gonn, was detained by people in the cathedral as she tried Read more
UK detention centre death “won’t be the last”
Monday, December 10th, 2018
An Algerian man’s death at a UK detention centre won’t be the last, says Beatrice Grasso, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) UK’s detention outreach manager. “This is not the first death in detention this year, and I fear it will not be the last time something like this happens. “It is a testament to the Read more
World’s richest man donates $100 million to help homeless
Monday, December 10th, 2018
The world’s richest man has donated almost US$100 million to address homelessness in the US. Three Catholic charities are among the 24 not-for-profit enterprises that will benefit from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s newly launched philanthropic fund. Catholic charities in one archdiocese to benefit from the funds say this will help them assist homeless Read more
Samoan church leaders in court on tax avoidance charges
Monday, December 10th, 2018Samoan church leaders from the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa are appearing in court today to answer to tax avoidance charges. The church’s chairman, Tauti’aga Senara, and his deputy, Tunumoso Iosia, are scheduled to be the first to appear in the Samoa District Court. Over 10 ministers have been charged with tax avoidance so far Read more
Thousands of refugees die or vanish going to US
Monday, December 10th, 2018Thousands of refugees have died or gone missing along on their way to the US via Mexico. The Associated Press says the estimated 4,000 Latin American migrants reported missing or dead is likely low as bodies may be lost in the desert, or relatives may not report missing loved ones who were migrating illegally. Read Read more
Intolerance of Christians ‘last acceptable prejudice’
Monday, December 10th, 2018Intolerance of Christians is the ‘last acceptable prejudice’, says , the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Quoting Pope Francis, Gallagher says there’s a tendency to reduce religions “to the quiet obscurity of the individual’s conscience or to relegate them to the enclosed precincts of churches, synagogues or mosques.” Read more
Humanitarian organisation blames Australia for mental health crisis
Thursday, December 6th, 2018
A report which the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/ Doctors without Borders) released this week says the island nation of Nauru is facing a mental health crisis. The Indefinite Despair report includes medical data MSF gathered during the past year while it was contracted by the Nauruan government to deliver mental health services. These Read more