A young New Zealand woman said she felt a “mix of emotions” when she met Pope Francis in July. Fatima Leung-Wai (28) was among thirteen World Youth Day organisers chosen to have lunch with him. Although Francis declined to list his preferred reading, he said his favourite composer is Wagner. He also says he has Read more
A kids television show with a transgender story-line is annoying UK parents. Just A Girl is about an 11-year-old schoolgirl’s struggle to get hormone drugs. She needs them to have sex-change surgery. The show’s timing has annoyed parents more than the subject matter. It features on the British CBBC website. This site is aimed at children Read more
Lutheran-Catholic unity is high on the Pope’s agenda during his official trip to Sweden this week. “My hope and expectation is that of coming closer to my brothers and sisters,” he said. Being close “does all of us good. Distance, on the other hand, makes us bitter.” Francis says distance makes us “close within ourselves Read more
Christ’s tomb is surprising its restoration team. The tomb is at the centre of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The team is hoping to uncover the original rock surface where Jesus’ body lay. This has involved uncovering a marble slab imposed over the site’s innermost chamber. The slab was last removed in 1550. A Read more
A children’s book on the family has just been released. It is the latest book for children written by Pope Francis. “The Caress of God”, is aimed at children ages six to 10 years old. It summarizes 27 catecheses (religious education topics). Pope Francis delivered these between his two Synods on the family, in October Read more
A new Martin Scorsese movie about two Jesuit monks in 17th century Japan is due for release in December. Silence stars Andrew Garfield and Liam Neeson as the Jesuit monks. In the movie, Garfield arrives in Japan to track down his mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira (Neeson). Ferreira has allegedly renounced his Jesuit beliefs. As they set out Read more
Louisiana’s Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s law on reporting child abuse, which requires health workers, teachers, clergy and others to report evidence of child abuse to authorities, does not oblige priests to violate the sanctity of a sacramental confession. The ruling deals with a section of Louisiana’s Children’s Code requiring health workers, teachers, Read more
Pope Francis and Sunni Muslim imam of Al-Azhar will begin talks again next year. The talks stopped five years ago. It is expected they will begin again in Rome next April. Officials from the Vatican’s office of inter-religious affairs are going to Cairo this weekend for a preparatory meeting. Their aim is to lay the Read more
Robbing the church at the site of Christ’s Transfiguration has drawn disgusted comments. Leading Holy Land Christians called the burglary at the site “a heinous crime and an act that violates the sanctity of the Holy Sites”. They have asked the police to conduct an investigation. They hope the police will “seriously look into the matter Read more
Religious parents are unthinking, irresponsible, reckless, diseased and feeble-minded. People of faith “should not be allowed to bring offspring into the world.” These opinions came from Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), who founded the Planned Parenthood birth control movement. Planned Parenthood celebrated its 100th birthday on October 16. The celebrations drew applause from pro-abortion feminists, praise from President Barack Read more