The reaction to a chance photo of a Filipino boy studying on the street by the light of a McDonald’s restaurant has shown the power of social media. Daniel Cabrera, 9, was photographed doing his homework outside a McDonald’s outlet in Mandaue City, Cebu, by medical technology student Joyce Torrefran. There is no lamp in Read more
Pope Francis has suggested that the most important task facing the world today is to protect Mother Earth. Speaking at the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on July 9, the Pope sounded a warning. “Time, my brothers and sisters, seems to be running out; we are not yet tearing one another Read more
Alpha course founder Rev. Nicky Gumbel has said the Catholic Church is leading the way in evangelisation. Speaking at the Proclaim ‘15 national Catholic evangelisation gathering in Birmingham in England on July 11, Rev. Gumbel said he loves the Catholic Church. Rev. Gumbel, an Anglican minister from Holy Trinity Brompton, is the pioneer of Alpha, Read more
The Catholic Church’s insurance company in Australia has been given until July 17 to produce almost 2000 files relating to child abuse. On July, 10, Australia’s Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse ordered Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) to produce the files. CCI was ordered to provide a list of relevant material by Read more
The unique experience of the Catholic Church in England and Wales could give weight to any case it might put for more married priests, a bishop says. Emeritus Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood told The Tablet he thought it could be argued the Church in England and Wales was in a unique position to prompt Read more
Pope Francis has asked a congregation of more than a million people in Ecuador that they pray for a miracle to happen in October’s synod on the family. Preaching at a Mass on Monday at Guayaquil, the Pope said the point of the synod is “to mature a true spiritual discernment and find concrete solutions Read more
A biblical scholar has concluded that Jesus did not repudiate the Mosaic concession whereby marriages could be ended because of ‘hardness of heart’. Camaldolese monk Guido Innocenzo Gargano, a professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, put forward the theory in the Urbaniana University Journal earlier this year. Now, in a new essay, he has reiterated Read more
Women posing as nuns have tried to abduct Filipino girls for human trafficking. According to news outlets, human traffickers are trying to take advantage of the desperation after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. One group of traffickers disguised themselves nuns from a foundation and tried to lure girls to Manila. One of the 14-year-old girls involved Read more
A same-sex marriage campaigner has recommended Tasmanians offended by a pastoral letter from Australia’s Catholic bishops complain to authorities. A pastoral letter from the bishops titled “Don’t mess with marriage” was sent home with students of Catholic high schools in several archdioceses, including Hobart. It stressed both respect for all and respect for the unique Read more
An Irish priest has challenged the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a life-long virgin. Writing on his blog, suspended Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery mentioned a Scripture passage that refers to Jesus’ brothers and sisters. “We are told that Jesus had four brothers, and an indefinite number of sisters,” Flannery wrote. “This does Read more