Pope Francis has urged the synod on the family not to act as if the only question is pastoral care of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. Francis said this in an unscheduled intervention during the second day of the synod in Rome. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi told reporters that the Pope affirmed that “Catholic Read more
An English bishop has admitted that he struggles with the notion of hundreds of celibate men discussing family issues at a synod. Speaking ahead of the synod on the family in Rome, Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton said “there is a bit of an issue”. “I thought I understood marriage and family life because I Read more
At the synod on the family, a Canadian archbishop has called for the ordination of women deacons and for married people to speak in homilies at Masses. Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, a former president of the Canadian bishops’ conference, released the text of his synod speech on his blog. He proposed three courses of action for Read more
The members of girl band from the Philippines making a mark in the UK’s X-Factor show have revealed they are all teetotal and none have ever been kissed. The Cercado sisters – Almira, 27, Irene, 25, Mylene, 23, and Celena, 19 – have made it through to a “challenge” phase of the competition on ITV. Read more
Former Jesuit seminarian Governor Jerry Brown of California has signed into law a bill legalising physician-assisted suicide in the state. The new law is modelled on Oregon’s statute, passed in 1997, which saw 105 people die by assisted suicide in that state last year. Governor Brown said he had carefully read material opposing the new Read more
Pope Francis has opened the synod on the family by calling for a Church that proclaims the truth, but which must be a bridge and not a roadblock. In his homily at the opening Mass of the three-week synod at the Vatican, the Pope spelled out “God’s dream” for humanity. “[This is] God’s dream for Read more
Bishops at the synod on the family have been asked to reject a paragraph in the synod’s working document dealing with contraception. Theologians, philosophers and scholars issued the appeal in the American journal “First Things”. Among the signatories are academics from the Pontificial John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, as well Read more
An official at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith says he is homosexual, has a partner and that the Church’s stance on same-sex love is inhuman. In a long interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper on Saturday, Msgr Krzysztof Charamsa, 43, announced he is gay and has a partner. He later held Read more
American anti-abortion activist Troy Newman lost a legal bid to stay in Australia after arriving on Thursday without a visa. His visa had been cancelled before he left the United States by Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Mr Newman, who is president of Operation Rescue in the US, had planned a 10-day speaking Read more
A prank call by an Italian radio station to a Vatican official has given clues as to Pope Francis’s exasperation with the mayor of Rome. La Zaretta (The Mosquito) made a phone call last week to Archbishop Vicenzo Paglia, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family and a lead organiser of the World Meeting Read more