Pope Francis brushed aside security considerations to make an unscheduled visit to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. After the Pope had been to the dentist on Wednesday, he said he had the idea to visit the commission. A security officer told Pope the visit would be “very complicated”. Francis replied by calmly saying, “I Read more
World
Priest, woman accomplice found guilty in Vatileaks II trial
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
A priest is facing jail time and a woman accomplice has been given a suspended sentence at the conclusion of the “Vatileaks II” trial. A Vatican court acquitted two Italian journalists whose books contained material from leaked confidential financial documents. The court ruled it did not have jurisdiction over Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi. But Read more
Priest recalls CDF demand he be sacked as editor
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
An Irish priest has recounted how the Vatican once demanded he resign as the editor of a magazine. Redemptorist Fr Gerry Moloney was editor of Reality magazine in Ireland. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s displeasure with some of the liberal content of the magazine was broken to him in May, 2011. The Read more
US mayor says prelate’s family teachings aren’t Christian
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
Philadelphia’s mayor has characterised as “not Christian” guidelines issued by an archbishop on a papal document on marriage and the family. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia recently released pastoral guidelines in the wake of Pope Francis’s post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia. In the guidelines, one of the topics addressed was divorced and civilly remarried Catholics living Read more
Creationist theme park with replica Noah’s Ark opens in US
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
A US$100 million theme park featuring a replica of Noah’s Ark built on scriptural lines has opened to the public in Kentucky. The “Ark Encounter” Christian theme park features a petting zoo, zip lines, live entertainment, a 900-seat auditorium and a 1,500-seat restaurant. The attraction’s founder, Ken Ham, said park is an evangelical tool aimed Read more
Fatima end times call cited in Mexico marriage debate
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
A reference by a Fatima visionary to an end times battle over marriage and the family has been cited as a same-sex marriage debate looms in Mexico. Desde la Fe, the weekly of the archdiocese of Mexico, wrote of a statement from Sr Lucia dos Santos. This comes as Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Read more
Pope appoints pastoral prelate to Congregation for Bishops
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016Pope Francis has made a key appointment that signals he wants a pastoral voice to be involved in the selection of bishops. The Pope has appointed Chicago’s Archbishop Blase Cupich to the Congregation for Bishops. Archbishop Cupich replaces the late Cardinal Francis George on the congregation. Continue reading
Francis trims Pell’s admin functions
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016The Pope has clipped Cardinal George Pell’s wings by removing some of the administrative functions done by his department. Pope Francis essentially reversed a 2014 law that had transferred the main operational section of the patrimony office to the Australian cardinal’s Secretariat for the Economy as of Saturday. Francis said he is removing the tasks because Read more
Pope OKs study into ordinary, extraordinary forms: Prefect
Friday, July 8th, 2016
The Vatican’s liturgy chief has said Pope Francis has given the go ahead for a study into the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass. Cardinal Robert Sarah said this at the Sacra Liturgia conference in London recently. The cardinal said the Pope has asked him to “to study the question of a reform of Read more