A priest has reportedly told the lesbian partner of a woman whose baby was being baptised not to be on the altar at the ceremony. The baptism took place in the Church of Santa Rita de Cassia in Telde, Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. The women were married in a civil ceremony in 2012 Read more
The Trevi Fountain in Rome is to be dyed red in recognition of Christians who even today give their lives for their faith. The April 29 event is being organised by Aid to the Church in Need and seeks to “call attention to the drama of anti-Christian persecution”. Continue reading
An inquiry ordered by the Vatican into abuse by the founder of a 20,000-member Catholic sodality is expected to report soon. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life ordered an inquiry concerning the “Sodalitium of Christian Life” from Peru. The movement’s superior general has admitted that allegations against its founder, Read more
Nearly one hundred prominent Catholics have expressed concerns about a proposed Polish law that would make abortion illegal under almost all circumstances. A letter was sent to Poland’s bishops expressing concerns about their advocacy in favour of the law. The signatories from Europe and the United States included theologians, historians and lay people. Continue reading
Pope Francis has rescued 12 Syrian refugees from the Greek Island of Lesbos, which he visited to highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Three refugee families, including six children, boarded the Pope’s plane for Rome at the end of his short visit on April 16. A Vatican spokesman said: “The Pope has desired to make a gesture Read more
Pope Francis has spoken of his annoyance at the media’s seeming fixation on Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried. On his flight back from the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, the Pope was asked about a much-commented-upon footnote in his recent apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. In a section of the document discussing pastoral Read more
The editor-in-chief of the US-based Catholic News Service has resigned abruptly at the request of a US bishops’ conference official. Tony Spence had posted tweets in reaction to religious freedom legislation under debate in Georgia and Tennessee and a gender identity measure in North Carolina. He also tweeted about an article in another publication about gay Read more
A US expert in seminary education is noting a subtle “Francis effect” emerging in her classroom. Franciscan Sr Katarina Schuth told the National Catholic Reporter she sees a subtle shift in her classroom in St Paul Seminary in Minnesota. In recently assigned reflection papers, three of her first-year students wrote about priestly ministry and the poor. Read more
A homily which suggested putting a paedophile priest in one of Jesus’ parables has sparked concern after it was published in an Australian school newsletter. In the homily, Fr Bill Edebohls of Malvern East in Melbourne took aim at lawyers and media at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He said Read more
US presidential contender Bernie Sanders briefly met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday. The five-minute meeting took place in the foyer at the Pope’s residence at the Vatican. Pope Francis later referred to the meeting as “a matter of politeness”. The Pope added “ . . . and if anybody thinks that greeting somebody Read more