Three-fifths of Catholic churches in the Canadian Diocese of Saint-Jerome could shut down this year. The cost of maintaining the buildings and dwindling attendance figures are the reasons behind the proposal. It could see as many as 33 of the diocese’s 55 churches closing. Read more
World
Humanae Vitae praised as prophetic encyclical
Thursday, April 12th, 2018Fifty years after its release, Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae (“Of Human Life”) is being praised as “prophetic”. Read more
Catholic leaders scorn Trump’s border policy
Monday, April 9th, 2018
Catholic leaders in the United States are disgusted President Donald Trump wants National Guard troops to go to the US-Mexico border. They say it is morally irresponsible, dangerously ineffective and unwise. Rather than keeping migrants out of the United States, they would like the administration to be more welcoming. In a statement from the Hope Read more
Jesuit son of 1916 Easter Rising leader dies at Easter
Monday, April 9th, 2018
A Jesuit priest whose father was a leader in Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising has died. Fr Joseph Mallin, who was 104, died on Easter Sunday in Hong Kong. His father, Commandant Michael Mallin, was in command of the Irish Citizen Army at St Stephen’s Green during Easter week 1916. Michael was executed by a firing Read more
Mercy focus at disgraced cardinal’s funeral
Monday, April 9th, 2018
Mercy and prayers for Cardinal Keith O’Brien and for those he offended were asked for at O’Brien’s funeral last week. His failings were made public in 2013 when a British weekly newspaper revealed he had made sexual advances to seminarians more than 20 years earlier. O’Brien admitted and apologised for his actions. In 2015 he Read more
Married priests on the agenda in Quebec
Monday, April 9th, 2018
Married priests were one of the options discussed at a conference dedicated to the future of the Catholic Church in Quebec. Consolidating parishes was not a solution to the lack of priests, theologian and Auxiliary Bishop Marc Pelchat told the 80 people at the conference. The conference was organised by a lay group Le Parvis Read more
New apostolic exhortation released
Monday, April 9th, 2018
A new apostolic exhortation has been released by the Vatican. An apostolic exhortation is considered one of the highest ranking papal documents after Encyclical Letters. The latest exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and be glad”), focuses on the call to holiness in the contemporary world. The exhortation’s title comes from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:12). This Read more
Vatican ruling on giving Communion to Protestants sought
Monday, April 9th, 2018A Vatican ruling on giving Communion to Protestants is being sought. According to draft guidelines approved by the German Bishops’ Conference in February, Protestant spouses may receive Communion after making a “serious examination of conscience”. The Bishops’ Conference says they must also affirm “the faith of the Catholic Church”, and wish to end “serious spiritual Read more
US seminarian who carried cross at Pope’s Easter Mass dies
Monday, April 9th, 2018The seminarian who carried the cross at Pope Francis’s Easter Mass died unexpectedly the following day. Legionary of Christ Brother Anthony Freeman of Houston was 29. Read more
Swedish Lutheran cathedral hosting Mass
Monday, April 9th, 2018A Swedish Lutheran cathedral is about to host a Catholic Mass for the first time since the Reformation. The Lutheran Church of Sweden has offered the cathedral as a temporary place of worship to the Catholic parish of St Thomas. St Thomas’s will be closed for major renovation for several months. Read more