The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has issued an apology to the Archdiocese of St Louis and two of its priests, Father Joseph Jiang and the late Mgr Joseph D. Pins. SNAP admitted allegations against the priests were false. Read more
World
Confessional secrecy must end
Thursday, November 30th, 2017
Lawyers representing sexual abuse victims in the United Kingdom say sexual abuse crime reporting should be mandatory. This would mean priests hearing confessions from abuse perpetrators would have to break the seal of the confessional. The lawyers have told Britain’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that failing to make reporting suspected abuse a Read more
Spain’s Catholic Church anti-Catalan independence
Thursday, November 30th, 2017
Spain’s Catholic Church says a declaration of independence approved by Catalonia’s regional parliament last month is “serious and disturbing”. Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez Perez, who is the Spanish bishops conference president, says he supports re-establishing constitutional order. Bishops and priests should favour “peaceful coexistence” and “renounce concrete political actions that could diminish their mission which consists Read more
Adelaide’s Archbishop misses court
Thursday, November 30th, 2017
Adelaide’s Archbishop, Philip Wilson, has been unable to appear in court in a trial about his alleged covering up of child sexual abuse. Wilson’s lawyers say he is medically unfit to give evidence because of physical and mental health issues. In 2015 he was charged with covering up a Hunter Valley priest’s abuse, which took Read more
Prince Harry and Meghan’s church wedding
Thursday, November 30th, 2017
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has given Prince Harry and Meghan Markle permission to marry in church even though Markle is divorced. The Archbishop must grant a licence for marriages not held in parish churches. Since 2002, following a ruling by the General Synod, divorced people have been allowed to marry in the Church Read more
Washington archdiocese sues metro
Thursday, November 30th, 2017
A lawsuit against Washington city’s metro (WMATA) system was filed on Tuesday by the Washington archdiocese. The lawsuit was filed after the metro system banned the archdiocese’s Christmas ads. A series of ads promoting Christmas Mass schedules and ways to help the needy during the holiday season had been prepared. They were to be shown Read more
Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops forgive Mugabe
Thursday, November 30th, 2017Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops Conference says it has forgiven former president, Robert Mugabe, for his “transgressions” in office over the past 37 years. They are imploring the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to put in place inclusive transitional mechanisms to level the political playing field ahead of next year’s watershed elections. Read more
Myanmar’s human trafficking and the Catholic Church
Thursday, November 30th, 2017The Catholic Church is working to combat Myanmar’s human trafficking problem through the newly founded Myanmar branch of Talitha Kum. Talith Kum is an international network of religious working to eradicate human trafficking. Read more
Interfaith dialogue features in Pope’s trip
Thursday, November 30th, 2017Interfaith dialogue has been a special feature of Pope Francis’s recent trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He is striving to have “the wealth of our differences” to be part of the conversations between religions. Read more
Mosque attack condemned, prayers offered
Monday, November 27th, 2017
Pope Francis says he is “profoundly grieved to learn of the great loss of life caused by the terrorist attacks on the Rawda mosque in north Sinai.” His distress was echoed by international religious and political leaders. They included the Archbishop of Canterbury, President Donald Trump, the Turkish Foreign Ministry and French President Emmanuel Macron. Read more