The #MeToo movement has prompted nuns to come forward with complaints about sexual abuse and rape by priests. According to the Associated Press, cases of abused nuns have emerged in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. These cases demonstrate the problem is global and pervasive, thanks to the sisters’ second-class status in the church and Read more
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, has resigned from the College of Cardinals after revelations that he sexually harassed or abused several young men. Until his resignation, McCarrick was one of the US church’s most senior prelates. Pope Francis has accepted his resignation. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced that “at the Read more
Church leaders are resisting India’s National Commission for Women’s call to ban confessions. The women’s group says it has proposed the ban because information disclosed in confessions is being used to blackmail the women who confessed it. There should be a federal inquiry into into complaints of rape and sexual assault involving priests, the group Read more
Sixty-two per cent of refugees in Britain have been street homeless within the previous 12 months. Former Liberal Democrat Minister, Sarah Teather, who is the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, says the asylum process in Britain is “deeply and profoundly flawed.” It is pushing people into destitution, she says. Speaking at the 40th conference Read more
The second anniversary of martyred priest Jacques Hamel’s assassination was marked with secular and religious ceremonies last week. He was murdered by Islamic terrorists while celebrating Mass on 26 July 2016. Priests, laity and parishioners say they have been changed by his death. Hamel’s parishioners speak of how it strengthened bonds between them: “In killing Read more
Australian saint Mary McKillop has received thanks from a man she cured from Parkinson’s disease 10 years ago. On 18 July Ricky Peterson of Kansas City, Kansas revisited St Mary MacKillop’s tomb with a prayer of thanksgiving for the seemingly miraculous event that had changed his life a decade earlier. Peterson first knelt at the Read more
The International Federation of Catholic Universities has elected its first female president, Dr Isabel Capeloa Gil. Gil is the Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal. In her acceptance address at the 26th General Assembly Meeting, Gil said she will “work to make the power of the few the strength of the many”. Read more
Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has been compared to Satan by a Catholic weekly newspaper. The Famiglia Cristiana cover shouts: “Vade retro Salvini” (“Get back, Salvini”). Evidently, the headline is a tweaked version of the medieval Latin formula used during exorcism. Read more
Despite saying all were “welcome to participate as one family” at the World Meeting of Families (WMoF) LGBT Catholic group, We Are Church Ireland says organisers have shut it out. The event which Pope Francis will attend is due to take place in Ireland next month. We Are Church Ireland (WAC Ireland), which advocates for Read more
Chinese dioceses have been told to prepare local versions of a sinicisation programme. The programme aims to bring Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Daoism and Buddhism Churches more in-line with the government’s understanding of Chinese culture, society and politics. For Catholics, a spokesperson says the programme could also be a factor in ongoing Chinese-Vatican relations. “China and Read more