The media need to get their terminology right and stop perpetuating negative stereotypes about immigrants says Pope Francis. Negative names for immigrants, like calling them “illegal” are not on, Francis says. The media is guilty of this. They should stop perpetuating negative stereotypes and find out why people migrate, he says. Francis offered a number Read more
World
Vatican resolving sexual abuse caseloads
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Pope Francis has appointed two new officials to oversee the Vatican office responsible for looking after clerical sexual abuse cases. A backlog of unresolved abuse cases has prompted the new appointments. Attention has focused on the Vatican’s response to the clerical sexual abuse crisis since the beginning of last month. That was when abuse survivor Read more
Pope meets Catholic-Muslim delegation
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
An English Cardinal and four Muslim leaders from the UK met with Pope Francis this week. They discussed interfaith relations between the religious communities in Britain. Cardinal Vincent Nichols and other Catholic leaders have been working for the past 30 years to develop strong ties with the UK’s local Muslim communities. Francis greeted the group Read more
Teen pleads guilty to plotting to kill Pope
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
An ISIS-inspired plot for 15 year-old Santos Colon to kill Pope Francis was quietly stopped by the FBI. Colon planned to kill Francis at his final papal Mass at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It would have been the last day of Francis’s 2015 visit to the US. Had he been successful, the hundreds of thousands Read more
Traditionalist SSPX sacraments approved
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Pope Francis has set the scene for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to have the marriages it celebrates validated. This is one of a number of the Pope’s initiatives that aim to bring SSPX into full communion with the Church. A letter from the Vatican to Catholic bishops said they will be allowed Read more
Church told to practice Jesus’ teachings
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Australian reform group Catholics for Renewal has sent an open letter to all Australia’s Catholic parishes saying the Church needs to be challenged start practising the teachings of Jesus. The group wants parishioners to sign the letter showing their support for “renewal in the church”. The letter is addressed to Australia’s archbishops and bishops. “Renewal” Read more
Prince Charles and Camilla – what do we give the Pope?
Thursday, April 6th, 2017Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to Pope Francis last week went off as smoothly as such visits tend to. The vexing question for the Royals, however, was what to give His Holiness. They settled on a hamper of homegrown produce from Prince Charles’s estate. Francis gave Charles and Camilla an olive branch. Read more
Martin Luther King’s dream must continue
Thursday, April 6th, 2017Martin Luther King’s dream of “integral human development” of all peoples is a work that must continue today. It must continue in the world and in the Catholic Church, a US bishop, Edward K. Braxton, told participants at a Vatican conference. ” The racial divide in the United States and, sadly, in the Catholic Church Read more
Mexican priest shot, another kidnapped
Thursday, April 6th, 2017A Mexican priest was shot and killed on Monday. Then on Tuesday, Fr Oscar Lopez Navarro, from the Mexican Tampico diocese was kidnapped. He has since been released, apparently in exchange for a ransom. Read more
Modern liturgy is disastrous and causes schism
Monday, April 3rd, 2017
Modern liturgy causes “disaster, devastation and schism”, says Cardinal Robert Sarah. Sarah told the 18th Cologne International Liturgical Conference that rather than bring the liturgy up to date, Vatican II destroyed the Church’s “mystical essence”. In his opinion the church has “abandoned her Christian roots” since the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), where reforms brought the church Read more