The long-standing Curia Cardinal Walter Kasper has advocated for a greater transfer of church leadership tasks to non-ordained Catholics (“lay people”). One of the most urgent tasks of bishops and priests is to “proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the requirements of the time,” he said in a conversation with the Viennese theologian Jan-Heiner Tück Read more
World
Couples revive bonds after marriage boot camp
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
More than 1.5 million couples globally have transformed their marriages after attending The Marriage Course, a marriage boot camp. Recently, fifteen couples marked the end of their transformative journey as they received blessings and celebrated the culmination of the seven-week course at Ryde Gladesville Catholic Parish near Sydney, Australia. Led by parish priest Fr Greg Read more
Catholic parishioner’s plight in Gaza conflict
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Amidst the ongoing Gaza conflict, a parishioner at the region’s sole Catholic parish has illuminated the daily challenges faced by the community. In a letter published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Suhail Abo Dawood emphasised the significance of practices like daily Mass and the Rosary amidst the backdrop of war and food scarcity. “We Read more
Vatican security alert: armed priest arrested at Regina Caeli
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
A parish priest from the Czech Republic was detained at the Vatican entrance as he attempted to enter St Peter’s Square and take part in Pope Francis’ Regina Caeli prayer. The 59-year-old priest, identified as Father Milan Palkovic, was found carrying an air pistol, two knives, a cutter and a screwdriver. The weapons were identified Read more
Four arrested for attack on Catholic students praying rosary
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Police in Indonesia have arrested four men for attacking Catholic students praying the rosary. The alleged Muslim attackers and others mobbed 12 students while they were conducting a traditional house-to-house rosary service on 5 May. For many Indonesian Catholics the month of May is special, a time to visit Marian grottos and shrines to pay Read more
First Orthodox deaconess of modern times sacramentally ordained
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Last week the Orthodox Church sacramentally ordained a deaconess for the first time in modern times. Archbishop Serafim of Zimbabwe ordained Angelic Molen (pictured right) as a deaconess on Maundy Thursday (2 May) in Harare. Molen “will do what the deacon does in the liturgy and in all sacraments in our Orthodox services” Serafim says. Read more
Blood of St Januarius miraculously liquifies again
Thursday, May 9th, 2024The miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St Januarius, bishop, martyr, and patron saint of Naples, Italy, was recently repeated in St Clare Basilica. The Archdiocese of Naples reported on its website that on May 4 at 6:38 pm local time, the miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St Januarius occurred Read more
Uganda’s Catholic Church runs out of altar wine
Thursday, May 9th, 2024The Catholic Church in Uganda has announced a critical shortage of mass wine. Wine is one of the important items at the altar for the holy Eucharist. The holy sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated in bread and wine, to which a small quantity of water is added, as per the present Code of Read more
Turkey’s Erdogan opens former church to Muslim worshippers
Thursday, May 9th, 2024Turkey has reopened a mosque converted from an ancient Orthodox church in Istanbul for Muslim worship four years after the president ordered its transformation. The Kariye Mosque was formerly a Byzantine church, then a mosque, and then a museum. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on May 6 that the Kariye Mosque was reopened for worship Read more
Bishops approve Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit
Thursday, May 9th, 2024Australia’s Catholic bishops have approved a liturgy which incorporates elements of Aboriginal language and culture. A motion was passed at the plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on Tuesday approving the Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit (Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti) for use in the Diocese of Broome in Read more