The Pope’s Council of Cardinals says the Roman Curia needs to be more international and include more young people and women. Commonly referred to as the “C9,” the group was established by Pope Francis after his election as Bishop of Rome in 2013 to advise him in matters of Church governance and reform. Read more
World
Belgian religious hospitals defy pope on euthanasia
Thursday, September 14th, 2017
Belgian Brothers of Charity will continue offering euthanasia to the mental health patients they care for, despite being ordered by the Vatican to stop by the end of August. Raf De Rycke, who is the head of the province’s board of directors, says the order’s leadership has not been able to resolve the dispute, which Read more
Kidnapped Catholic priest rescued
Thursday, September 14th, 2017
A Catholic priest who was kidnapped by militants 18 months ago in Yemen has been rescued. Fr Tom Uzhunnalil was freed on Tuesday. He is staying with a Salesian community in Rome for a few days before going home to India. He met Pope Francis on Thursday morning. At the meeting Francis embraced and encouraged Read more
Catholic celibacy, secrecy and child abuse
Thursday, September 14th, 2017
Celibacy and secrecy are the major reasons child abuse is so prevalent in the Catholic Church, a new report says. The report, Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: An Interpretive Review of the Literature and Public Inquiry Reports, was co-authored by Prof Des Cahill and theologian Dr Peter Wilkinson. Cahill, who helped the Australian Read more
Vatican reform nears completion
Thursday, September 14th, 2017
Major Vatican reform is almost finished says Secretary of the Pope’s international Council of Cardinals, Bishop Marcello Semeraro. Adding, the work is “nearly complete at the level of proposals made to the Pope. “I think that within a few months this revision will be more or less complete. “Then the Pope will have at his disposition Read more
British MP hounded for Catholic views
Thursday, September 14th, 2017
A British MP is being given a hard time for his Catholic views: opposing abortion in all circumstances and disagreeing with same-sex marriage. In an interview on Good Morning Britain, Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was “completely opposed to abortion” including in cases of rape and incest. “Life is sacrosanct and begins at the point of Read more
Protocols for retired Popes needed
Thursday, September 14th, 2017The Church must clarify its legislation about the role retired popes should play in future, says Professor Thomas Schüller. Schüller is the head of the Canon Law department at Germany’s Münster University. He is one of several German theologians who have called on the Vatican to establish clear canonical regulations for future popes who resign Read more
Chainsaw wielding Nun attacks tree
Thursday, September 14th, 2017A south Florida nun decided to forego divine intervention this week and picked up a chainsaw instead to join the cleanup efforts following Hurricane Irma. Sister Margaret Ann, wearing her nun’s habit, was caught on camera using the heavy equipment to help clear a tree toppled by the ferocious storm. Continue reading
St Peter’s remains found
Thursday, September 14th, 2017Bones said to be St Peter’s have been found near the altar in a church in Rome. St Peter, who was the first Pope, died about 2,000 years ago. The relics were found under the floor in clay pots in the 1,000-year-old Church of Santa Maria in Cappella in the district of Trastevere. Read more
Sixty-one percent of UK Catholic say abortion is ok
Thursday, September 14th, 2017British Catholics who believe “the law should allow an abortion if a woman decides on her own she does not wish to have a child” rose to 61 per cent in 2016. This is a large increase from 39 per cent in 2012 and 33 per cent in 1985, the 2016 British Social Attitudes survey Read more