Married gay priest Fr Bernard Lynch says he’s still ordained and Church is wrong in its attitudes to gay people. In an interview on Irish-channel Clare FM’s Morning Focus, Fr Lynch said the message of God is to love and to love one another. He said the Catholic Church “does terrible damage and it is Read more
World
Iraqi archbishop caught by US ban on visitors
Friday, February 10th, 2017
An Iraqi archbishop has been caught by President Trump’s temporary ban on citizens from several Muslim countries from traveling to the US. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, was due to visit the US at the invitation of New Jersey politician, Chris Smith. He intended visiting Washington DC and New York. He was Read more
Church cooperation with Australian Royal Commission into clergy sex abuse helpful
Friday, February 10th, 2017
Church cooperation with the Australian Royal Commission into clergy sex abuse is helping uncover the extent of child sex abuse since the 1950s. This is the first ever Royal Commission into clergy sex abuse. It is also the first time Church data has been opened up its sexual abuse records for judicial examination. On Monday, Read more
SNAP founder and director resigns amid claims of collusion
Friday, February 10th, 2017
SNAP founder and director Barbara Blaine has resigned amid claims of collusion and a lawsuit by a former employee. Blaine has not given any reason for her resignation from SNAP – the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests. She founded SNAP three decades ago. In January, Blaine, David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, Read more
Filipino Catholics condemn Duterte’s reign of terror; he won’t back down
Friday, February 10th, 2017
Filipino Catholics have condemned President Duterte’s wholesale killing of drug users and dealers. Their opinion has not changed his views. He remains determined to see his aim to rid the country of all drug users and dealers. By killing them. Last weekend, a pastoral letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference was read at Masses throughout the Read more
Remarried divorcees, Communion – German bishops and Cardinal conflict
Friday, February 10th, 2017
Remarried divorcees’ right to Communion is sparking a conflict in Germany. On one side, several members of the Council of German Bishops endorse Communion for the divorced and remarried. On the other, German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, says Communion for divorced and remarried people is impossible. “For us marriage is the expression Read more
Catholic Samurai martyr beatified
Friday, February 10th, 2017A Catholic Samurai martyr was beatified during a Mass in Osaka, Japan on Tuesday. He died in the 17th century. Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the Beatification Mass of Justo Takayama Ukon, who was declared a martyr by Pope Francis in January last year. Read Read more
Papal-first – Francis beams video message to Super Bowl
Friday, February 10th, 2017In a Papal-first, Pope Francis sent a video message to tens of thousands of fans during Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League In his message, Francis said he hoped the Super Bowl would provide “a sign Read more
Vatican’s first female-only association gets the nod
Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
The Vatican’s first female-only association has been formally approved as a Vatican association. Donne in Vaticano (“Women in the Vatican”) is open to all 750 women working for the Holy See and its attached institutions. So far about 50 women have joined. Women make up about a fifth of the Vatican workforce. Most of them Read more