A Catholic professor’s views on diversity are making waves at the Catholic college he teaches at. A row blew up after Professor Anthony Esolen published two articles recently In one of them, Esolen says the “celebrate diversity” culture crowd is “at odds with…the diversity of male and female to be resolved most dynamically and creatively Read more
A Bishop who has been excommunicated gave “illegitimate help” and concelebrated the Eucharist at a new bishop’s ordination last week. Lei Shiyin, the Chinese- government-backed bishop of Leshan in Sichuan province, was ordained in China in June 2011 without Rome’s blessing. He was excommunicated for this. The Vatican is concerned Lei’s role in last week’s Read more
The first US martyr, Father Stanley Rother from the Oklahoma City diocese, has been recognised by Pope Francis. He was murdered in 1981 in a Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor. Read more
Artificial intelligence was the subject of a conference held at the Vatican last week. One of the attendees described artificial intelligence as being “a very powerful technology”. “So I think as a society we need to think very carefully about the ethical use of technologies, and as one of the developers of this kind of Read more
X-Files and The Fall star Gillian Anderson is horrified so many people live as slaves. Ex- X-Files character Special Agent Dana Scully, Anderson describes a “slavery pandemic”. An estimated 46 million people across the globe live as slaves. They create about $150 billion in illegal profits a year. Anderson is most concerned about child trafficking. Read more
Norway’s Catholic Church has been fined 1m kroner (NZ$201,120) for puffing up its membership numbers. In addition, Oslo diocese’s chief administrative officer has been charged with aggravated fraud. The Government in Norway finances the churches. The amount they pay is in proportion to the number of church members. Accusers say the Oslo diocese searched telephone Read more
Stephen Hawking, a renowned British physicist and self-declared atheist, was among those the Pope addressed this week. Hawking and other scientists were attending the Pontifical Academy of Sciences symposium. The symposium focused on scientific knowledge and technology’s impact on people and the planet. Although Pope Francis and Hawking have opposing religious beliefs, they connect with Read more
Brady Bunch mum – real name Florence Henderson – founded her life on her Catholic faith. Henderson died aged 82 on Thursday last week. She said in what turned out to be her final interview that throughout her life, “through good times and bad” her Catholic faith was her foundation. ” I don’t ever remember Read more
Neuro-research experiments show religion’s good for the brain. Researchers from the University of Utah designed an experiment to see what happens when people think spiritual thoughts. Dr. Jeffrey Anderson, a neuro-radiologist at the University of Utah says religious neuroscience is a young field. Very few studies have been undertaken. The researchers found experiences believers interpret Read more
Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro says the Pope’s refusal to directly answer the questions put to him by four cardinals is emblematic of how Francis effects change in the Catholic Church: he doesn’t deal in the doctrinal nitty-gritty but goes straight to the people — via his priests — regardless of the rules. In an op-ed Read more