Couples must wait at least a year – up from six months – to celebrate their nuptials if they want a church wedding in Singapore. Singapore’s archdiocese says Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye changed the policy for booking churches for weddings after discussions with the archdiocese’s priests. The new policy aims to ensure couples take Read more
Following repeated requests from the Philippines, the Balangiga church bells US troops stole as war booty after the 1901 Balanginga Massacre are to be returned. The massacre occurred during the Philippine-US War (1899-1902). At present, two of the bells are displayed at the US 11th Infantry Regiment’s former base at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base. Read more
Religious freedom advocates are calling for an end to blasphemy laws across the globe. “Blasphemy laws are a way for governments to deny their citizens – and particularly those of minority religions – the basic human rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression,” the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Read more
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is alarming aid agencies and Catholic officials who are calling on combatants to end the civil war that began in 2015 to make badly needed assistance available. Yemen is facing the largest humanitarian crisis of this time, according to the United Nations. Read more
Poor medical care is causing thousands of Papuans to die needlessly. Many die in government-owned hospitals. Three months ago a document on patients who have passed away at Jayapura Public Hospital was circulated among journalists in Papua. It recorded 1,275 deaths from 2008 to 2012. Read more
Reducing food waste will reduce hunger and malnutrition, and save an estimated $1 trillion a year, a newly released report says. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, ‘Preventing nutrient loss and waste across the food system: Policy actions for high-quality diets,’ finds regularly eating poor-quality food has become a greater public health Read more
Despite widespread speculation in the Italian media, the Vatican has not assumed the skeleton found in the Vatican Nunciature is Emanuela Orlandi, Cardinal Pietro Parolin has told reporters. Orlandi was 15-year-old Vatican citizen who disappeared 35 years ago. “I do not know who connected this case with Orlandi,” he added. Parolin told journalists the facts Read more
A joint open letter expressing profound dismay at the Vatican’s provisional agreement with Beijing has been sent to Pope Francis by a group of English Catholics. The letter criticises the Vatican for allowing the atheist Chinese government to have a role in choosing bishops at a time of increasing oppression by the Beijing government. “The Read more
South Korea’s Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung says he would greatly welcome a visit from Pope Francis to North Korea and would be willing to accompany him during his trip. Yeom, who is the archbishop of Seoul, also serves as the acting chief of North Korea’s Pyongyang Diocese. According to Lee Hae-chan, the chief of the Read more
Modern technology has provided a means for the live-stream sex abuse trade, which is rife in the Philippines. Christian churches in the Philippines are working with the government to shut down “all forms of child violence,” especially online sexual exploitation. Online sexual exploitation of children has become a major problem, says Bishop Ruperto Santos. “What Read more