Human remains have been found at the Vatican’s embassy to Italy in Rome. The Holy See says the police are investigating the find and that forensic experts have been tasked with determining the “age, sex and date of death” of the body. Rome’s Chief Prosecutor, Giuseppe Pighatone, has tasked the Scientific Police and a mobile Read more
The superiors general of 34 female orders want more influence in the Church. As part of an international umbrella organization, the International Union of Superiors General, the superiors from orders in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg want women to be admitted to all offices in the Church, including ordained offices. The German-speaking superiors general, who Read more
The Church should help pay for the €13 million needed to excavate the site of a former mother and baby home in County Galway, says Irish Children’s minister, Catherine Zappone. She has written to Pope Francis asking the Vatican to “contribute substantially” towards the excavation. About 800 infants aged from about 35 foetal weeks up Read more
Trappist priest, Thomas Keating, who was a global leader in both Christian contemplative prayer and interreligious dialogue, has died. He was 95. He died at St Joseph’s Abbey, Massachusetts, where he had been abbot from 1961 to 1981. In the early 1980s Keating began his role as one of the chief architects of the contemporary Read more
The U.N. Human Rights Committee has told Paris to review its Muslim headscarf ban. Although the Committee’s decisions are not legally binding, it has also challenged a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2014 that defended France’s ban on the Muslim headscarf. France has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, making up an estimated Read more
Malaysia has decided to abandon the death penalty. The Asian country’s decision is winning praise and adds further momentum to a growing global trend that human rights advocates hope will spell an end to state-sanctioned killing. Read more
Anti-Semitic incidents have been increasing for some time in the US – and the recent shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue is an example of an ongoing problem. It surfaces often in the research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks various U.S. hate groups, including neo-Nazis, white nationalists, skinheads and others. “They’re all Read more
The final document of the synod on young people has been released. It showcases a Church which listens, “walks with” people, gives women a role in decision-making and ends governance by issuing edicts from on high. The document says it is a “duty of justice” that women become involved in decision-making in the Church. It Read more
Pope Francis has spoken out against an attack on a gathering at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Several people died in the attack. Francis also expressed his “closeness” to the Jewish community and the people of that city, and prayed for all the victims and their relatives. “May the Most High receive the dead in his peace, Read more
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor (51) has converted to Islam and has changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt. She announced her conversion via her Twitter account. Davitt’s new name means “one who bears witness” in Arabic. Shuhada’ comes from the Arabic word Shahada. Shahada is the Islamic declaration of faith in which Muslims state (or bear Read more