A Vatican trial of journalists and alleged whistleblowers who allegedly procured and revealed information and documents concerning “the fundamental interests of the Holy See” resumed on Monday, March 14. The trial has been adjourned for three months to enable computer experts to recover deleted email, text and WhatsApp messages between some of the accused. Francesca Read more
American Catholic bishops joined various faith groups in calling on the US Supreme Court to give temporary relief to undocumented persons in the country who are eligible for deportation. “Courts have repeatedly recognized that there is a public interest in maintaining stable families and communities,” the bishops said in an amicus brief filed on March Read more
The Boston Globe announced that it will stop supporting its Catholic news site CruxNow.com starting April 1. The announcement came less than two years after the Catholic site started operation. The Globe cited financial reasons for the decision. In a note to readers, Crux editor Teresa Hanafin said the Globe decided to focus its efforts Read more
Pope Francis will visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in July. He will visit the former Nazi death camp in southern Poland on July 29, on the third day of his visit to the country. Two of his predecessors have also visited the camp, John Paul II – himself Polish – in 1979 and retired pope Read more
The Vatican will appoint Archbishop Christophe Pierre to be the new ambassador to the United States, replacing an ambassador whose tenure has sparked controversy, reports say. The Jesuit news organization America and longtime Vatican reporter Sandro Magister said Thursday that they expect Pierre will be appointed the Apostolic Nuncio, though the Holy See has not Read more
(UCAN) A top Vatican official challenged Filipino Catholic educators and theologians to practice what they preach and become “credible witnesses” to church teachings. “We need witnesses,” said Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, at the Ateneo de Manila University on March 10. He said four Missionaries of Charity nuns who Read more
The number of baptized Catholics in Europe is growing, showed figures released by the Vatican this week. Data from the Vatican’s Central Office for Church Statistics show that the Church in Europe grew by two percent between 2005 and 2014. Although 40 percent of the continent is Catholic, that figure has not changed in nearly Read more
A group of conservative Catholics is urging voters in the United States not to support the candidacy of Donald Trump. In an essay published by the National Review said Trump is “manifestly unfit to be president of the United States.” The essay, “An Appeal to Our Fellow Catholics,” was co-written by Princeton professor Robert P. Read more
Pope Francis has imposed new rules governing the establishment and management of funds for the advancement of investigations into the lives of people proposed for sainthood. The new financial accountability regulations came after reports of gross abuses on the use of donations from the faithful. At least two books by Italian journalists revealed that the Read more
A Congolese Catholic priest has resigned in southern Germany after getting death threats and racist abuse. Father Olivier Ndjimbi-Tshiende, 66, announced his decision on Sunday in Zorneding, a small town near Munich in Bavaria where the priest has been serving since 2012. “We are shocked and saddened by these [death] threats,” read a statement on Read more