Ten victims of a paedophile Australian priest have started proceedings in the Victorian Supreme Court against the retired Bishop of Ballarat. They accuse Bishop Ronal Mulkearns and the Diocese of Ballarat of negligence for allegedly failing to protect them and other victims, despite being aware of complaints against Fr Gerard Ridsdale. Ridsdale was convicted in Read more
A Colombian bishop who linked same-sex orientation with one of Jesus’ disciples and Mary Magdalene has apologised for his use of words. In a conference at a Colombian university, Bishop Juan Vicente Córdoba of Fontibón said there is no explicit rejection of homosexuality in the Bible. “We don’t know if one of Jesus’ disciples” had Read more
Ireland’s Catholic bishops have agreed to provide funds for any counselling required by clients of a support group for children of priests. Irish-based Coping International was assured by the bishops that this support would be forthcoming. The bishops made this decision at their autumn meeting in October last year. The therapy would be provided through Read more
A former top UK judge has likened efforts to oust expression of religion from the public square to Tudor-era persecutions. Sir Michael Tegendhat said soaring numbers of lawsuits involving religion pointed to an increasing denial of human rights. Sir Michael was the UK’s top libel and media judge until he retired last year. His comments Read more
The leaders of 24 reform groups are asking Pope Francis to halt the Church’s practice of clustering parishes as a response to the shortage of priests. In an open letter, 32 signatories told the Pope that the future of parish life is “massively threatened”. According to an article in the National Catholic Reporter, the letter Read more
In a rare piece of writing published since his retirement, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI pointed to the need for the Church to extend its pastoral care to non-believers. A letter written by Benedict was published as an introduction to a book by former Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The book was titled “Faith and the Read more
The archbishop of Sydney says a crisis of what it means to love should be a focus at the synod on the family, not controversial topics the media promotes. Archbishop Anthony Fisher said this last week in an interview with Vatican Radio. This followed his appointment by Pope Francis as a member of the Congregation Read more
One of the founding fathers of Liberation Theology has acknowledged a clear “change in atmosphere” in the Church under Pope Francis. Fr Gustavo Gutiérrez said that with Francis it’s easier to push the global Church to have a special concern for the poor, “something we find in the Scriptures”. But the Peruvian theologian said there Read more
An English bishop has said there should be “systematised provision” of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form for Catholics in his diocese. Bishop Mark O’Toole of Plymouth told Mass of Ages magazine he would like to “establish a regularity of provision and systematised provision” of the Mass. “I don’t like the idea of someone just Read more
Dublin archdiocese is banning photographs being taken during religious ceremonies, in order to protect children from potential abusers. Each diocese in Ireland has been directed to have guidelines governing the filming and photography of children while they are on church grounds. The move derives from standards issued by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in Read more