The way bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are being used in the modern-day slave trade is a hot topic at the Vatican. Bank of Montreal senior manager Joseph Mari yesterday presented the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) with an overview of the role crypto-currencies play in money laundering. He also explained blockchain‘s potential in the money-laundering Read more
Migration is a complex issue that has generated xenophobia, even in traditionally Catholic countries, Pope Francis says. Speaking to an International Federation of Universities conference, Francis reflected on the conference theme “Refugees and Migrants in a Globalized World: Responsibilities and Responses of Universities”. He said there is an urgent need “to do further studies into Read more
A Canberra group called “Concerned Catholics” is lobbying for structural change to address disillusion and disaffection in the Australian Catholic Church. Chair of the group, emeritus professor John Warhurst, says Catholic leaders in Australia must begin work to give parishioners an effective role and voice in the Church’s direction and provide greater accountability and inclusive Read more
The Museum of the Souls in Purgatory is located inside of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Prati, near Castel Sant’Angelo. It contains around 15 testimonies and artifacts, collected from around Europe by a French priest Victor Jouët. In many of the cases, it is held that the marks were left as Read more
Sixty members of the Vincentian Order who were martyred during the Spanish Civil War will be beatified at a Mass in Madrid next Saturday in a “celebration of hope, faith and forgiveness.” Read more
“We need to open the dialogue” to reduce tensions between North Korea and the United States, says Stephen Colecchi. Colecchi is the director of the U.S. bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace. He was one of three panelists at a Georgetown University forum discussing the issue. “The only way to open up the relationship Read more
A French court ruling over removing the cross above a statue of St Pope John Paul II has sparked a diplomatic row between Poland and France. The Council of State, which is France’s top administrative court, says the cross violates a law passed in 1905. The law bans any “religious sign or emblem” on a Read more
Hiding under their beds from Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists for eight hours, seven young women prayed Our Lady would save them. She did. The women’s ordeal started last week when ISIS fighters entered the church-run sanctuary in Kirkuk where the women were living. Kirkuk is about 60 kilometres to the south of Mosul. Speaking through Read more
The murderer of an Indian nun is going to join in celebrations for her beatification on Saturday. Samandar Singh was 22 in 1995 when he murdered the Clarist Sister Rani Maria Vattalilon. He killed her on behalf of money lenders who were upset with her work which involved setting up self-help groups. He stabbed her Read more
An Italian journalist known as the “Vatileaks’ author is about to publish a new book revealing fresh secrets about sex, crimes and money in the Holy See. Gianluigi Nuzzi faced court over his last book (Vatican SpA) for leaking confidential Vatican documents. His new book is called Original Sin: Secret Accounts, Hidden Truths, Blackmail and Read more