Pope Francis has called on Catholic parishes, convents and monasteries across Europe to shelter at least one refugee family each. The Pope said the two small parishes at the Vatican “will welcome in these days two families of refugees”. The plight of refugees from war-torn Syria has sparked calls for action worldwide, notably after a Read more
Leaders of the United Kingdom’s major faith groups have called on their MPs to reject a bill that would allow legal assisted suicide. On Friday, the House of Commons will debate the Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill, put forward by Labour’s Rob Marris. The bill would allow patients judged as having no more than six Read more
Some controversial statements in an interim report at last year’s extraordinary family synod did not reflect synod fathers’ discussions, a new book claims. Vatican reporter Edward Pentin has written “The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation of Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family”. The Relatio post disceptationem, or interim report, released Read more
An Italian priest has closed down all activities in his parish, apart from Mass, in an attempt to stamp out rumours he fathered a child. Fr Luciano Venturi, 50, parish priest of Monteobizzo di Pavullo in Modena, has endured the claims for more than a year. On August 30, as Sunday Mass was about to Read more
Pope Francis stunned tourists and passersby on the Via del Babuino in Rome on September 3 by dropping into an optician’s to buy eye-glass lenses. “I don’t want a whole new set of frames, just new lenses,” the pontiff told Alessandro Spiezia, proprietor of the eyewear shop in the heart of the Spanish Steps area. Read more
Pope Francis has announced that all priests will have the discretion to absolve the sin of abortion confessed by women during the upcoming Year of Mercy. This power is normally reserved to bishops, who frequently themselves grant priests permission to forgive the sin. Procurement of an abortion incurs an automatic excommunication under Church law. The Read more
There was no homily at the Vatican funeral for former Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski as a gesture of respect for his victims. Wesolowski, a former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died last week while awaiting trial at the Vatican on charges of child sex abuse and possessing child pornography. He did not appear at the Read more
The head of the largest Chinese Catholic diocese in the world will be absent from the synod on the family because he has been deemed to be too old. Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong was not invited to participate in October’s synod because he is older than 75, UCA News reported. “Now I Read more
The Vatican has stated that people with transsexual behaviours cannot be godparents. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued this directive in the case of a Spanish transsexual person who sought to be godfather to a nephew. Alex Salinas, 21, was born female, but holds an ID card identifying her as a male. Read more
The mayor of a town in southern France has sparked outrage after his town hall sponsored a Catholic Mass in a local bullring. The mayor of Beziers, Robert Ménard, took part in a procession in the bullring, walking behind an effigy of the Virgin Mary. France has strict laws on the separation of church and Read more