Newly released data shows that Catholic schools in England and Wales take in 50 percent more pupils from the most deprived backgrounds than state schools. The Catholic Education Service (CES) says just under a fifth of all pupils in Catholic statutory education meets the highest national deprivation criteria, compared to a 12.8 percent England average. Read more
World
Catholic schools in England, Wales take in 50 percent more deprived students
Monday, March 25th, 2024Princess of Wales reveals cancer diagnosis; Cardinal Nichols encourages prayers
Monday, March 25th, 2024Catherine, the Princess of Wales, surprised the world on Friday by publicly announcing that she is fighting cancer and is in the early stages of treatment. Upon making the announcement, the princess also addressed others who suffer from the disease and asked them not to lose hope. “At this time, I am also thinking of Read more
Loud Fence ribbons to be removed from Ballarat cathedral fence
Monday, March 25th, 2024Thousands of colourful ribbons tied to the fence of a regional Victorian cathedral as a show of support for survivors of child sexual abuse are set to be removed. The Diocese of Ballarat says it will remove ribbons tied outside St Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday morning so the ageing wrought-iron fence can be painted. It Read more
Christians are ‘samples’ not salespeople
Thursday, March 21st, 2024
According to Fr Richard Leonard SJ, Christians are not salespeople but free giveaways or samples of Christianity, of how to love our neighbour, and that’s what Catholic education should be. Leonard worked for 25 years in forming teachers and spoke recently to the South Australian Catholic school leaders in Adelaide, Australia. For many children, Catholic Read more
Man’s false memory turns innocent priest into victim
Thursday, March 21st, 2024
A priest became the victim of a man’s false memory after the priest was wrongly accused of sexually abusing a minor. After alleging Fr Jerome Kaywell had abused him in 2013 and 2014, the unnamed accuser recanted his claims. He went on to apologise in writing to Kaywell. He excused himself, declaring his allegation was Read more
A one Israeli-Palestinian state proposed by Vatican cardinal
Thursday, March 21st, 2024
A senior Vatican cardinal has raised the possibility of considering a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, a former Vatican diplomat, suggested that the Holy See is open to alternatives to its long-held support for a two-state solution, provided they respect the rights and existence of both sides. “You cannot negate Palestinians Read more
30 priests killed: Russian military also destroy churches
Thursday, March 21st, 2024
Allegations of systematic attacks by the Russian military against Ukrainian religious leaders and deliberate destruction of churches have sparked outrage. The outrage follows the death last month of a 59-year-old Orthodox priest, Fr Stepan Podolchak (pictured). The Tablet reports he was tortured to death by Russian soldiers. Human rights groups condemned his death and those Read more
Brazilian Catholic Church split over marijuana decriminalisation
Thursday, March 21st, 2024
Brazil’s Catholic Church is deeply divided over potential moves as it weighs decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana. The church’s conflicting stances reflect the polarised debate between liberal Supreme Court justices who back decriminalisation and conservative legislators pursuing harsher penalties. With over 123 million Catholics, Brazil has the world’s largest Catholic population. Lawyer Miguel Read more
Norwegian bishop celebrates country’s first Catholic Bible
Thursday, March 21st, 2024A Norwegian bishop has hailed the publication of Norway’s first official Bible for Catholics as a breakthrough. “The publication of a Bible presented and packaged as ‘The Catholic Canon’ by the Norwegian Bible Society is a major ecumenical event,” Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim told CNA in an email. “It invites us afresh to engage Read more
Vatican Observatory publishes new method to better understand the Big Bang theory
Thursday, March 21st, 2024Two priests and cosmologists from the Vatican Observatory have made further progress in developing a new mathematical method to understand the Big Bang theory, which describes the universe’s first moments. Fathers Gabriele Gionti, SJ, and Matteo Galaverni introduced the new and promising mathematical tool in a 2022 article published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Read more