An Italian priest has been withdrawn from his Bulgarian parish for hosting Syrian refugee family. The local community objected to his decision to host the family. Father Paulo Cortezi, who is returning to Italy, said he is now a refugee himself. “I am leaving Bulgaria with my head up, proud, innocent. “I sought to protect Read more
A Nobel prize nomination has been put forward for the Bulgarian Independent Orthodox Church. The Church protected the country’s Jewish minority during the Holocaust. A Bulgarian-Israeli lawyer is spearheading the campaign. Moshe Aloni is seeking support for a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Church. He said he is hoping the campaign Read more
The Pop Pope Francis is the face of Rolling Stone mag’s Italian edition this month. “The Pope says sensible things, such sensible things,” the magazine’s editorial said, explaining why the issue was dedicated to Francis. The cover photo shows Francis giving a thumbs-up. Written in pink letters, the photo is entitled ‘Francis: the Pop Pope’ Read more
Boxing greats Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes and Roberto Duran are joining Muhammad Ali’s family’s fight for religious freedom. The alliance came about after Ali’s son and former wife say they were detained at an airport for their religion. They linked the incident President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which they are challenging on religious freedom grounds. Read more
A Papal trip to Egypt is under consideration. Although Italy’s state-run RAI reported Pope Francis would visit Cairo’s Al-Azhar, the leading center of learning of Sunni Islam, on May 20-21, this has not been confirmed by the Vatican. Instead, the Vaticvan says the trip is “under consideration but that no dates or itinerary have been finalized”. Read more
Aleppo has been given a US$100,000 donation from Pope Francis. The Syrian city has been ravaged by war. The ancient city has become a symbol of the war’s brutality. It has endured fighting during the six-year Syrian conflict, and the warfare has caused many deaths and injuries, widespread displacement and massive damage. Read more
Married men’s ordination could be considered as a solution to the lack of vocations, Pope Francis says. In his first ever interview with a German newspaper yesterday, Francis discussed his attitude to the consecration of married men. He said the shortage of priests around the world is an “enormous problem” that must be resolved. At Read more
Ireland’s peace process shouldn’t be taken for granted, church leaders say. Ireland’s Catholic, Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian leaders are determined Northern Ireland’s peace process achievements should be protected. In a joint statement they said not everything in the vision for peace has been achieved yet. However, they said”the current circumstances provide an opportunity Read more
Children will suffer when Compassion International charity closes its doors in India. The Colorado-based charity is one of India’s biggest donors and has been operating for 48 years. Its donations, through child sponsorship, amount to about US$45 million a year. Its closure has been directed by the Indian government “on suspicion of engaging in religious Read more
Voices of Faith is an annual storytelling event hosted at the Vatican on International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day this year was the day before yesterday – 8 March. The initiative began four years ago “to enhance the dignity, participation and leadership of women and girls through persistent and good storytelling.” At this year’s event Read more