The expulsion of Christians from Iraq’s second largest city has been compared to 1930’s Nazi Germany by a former British ambassador to the Holy See. Francis Campbell, who served in Rome from 2005 to 2011, said he was deeply disturbed by the West’s indifference to the events in Mosul. The extremist Islamic State of Iraq Read more
Political and religious leaders in Europe have denounced anti-Semitism in their region as protests grow about the conflict in Gaza. “Anti-Semitic rhetoric and hostility against Jews, attacks on people of Jewish belief and synagogues have no place in our societies,” the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy said on July 22. Thousands defied a Read more
A group representing some priests in Ireland has welcomed Pope Francis’s reported hints that he will sort out the celibacy issue. Association of Catholic Priests spokesman Fr Seamus Ahearne said the Pontiff’s views have been welcomed by the majority of Ireland’s priests. The ACP represents about 10 per cent of clergy in Ireland. Earlier this Read more
The Record, Western Australia’s Catholic newspaper, which was established in 1874, put out its final edition on July 23. The Record was Australia’s oldest weekly newspaper. Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said the decision to close the newspaper was reached after a five-month review with stakeholders, following a protracted decline in subscriptions. “Change is sometimes difficult Read more
An Australian Sister of the Sacred Heart, Sr Philomene Tiernan, was one of the 298 people killed in an airliner allegedly shot down over the Ukraine on July 17. Both sides in Ukraine’s civil conflict – the Government and pro-Russian separatists – have accused each other of downing Malaysia Airlines MH17 with a missile. Sr Read more
The practice of lay people giving the homily at Mass is coming to an end in a United States diocese, where it had been happening for 40 years. Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester diocese in New York state is drafting guidelines to clarify that homilies at Mass are reserved for the ordained. Bishop Matano said he is trying Read more
A US scripture commentator has had her writings pulled from a book for lectors because she attended a progressive group’s conference. At the request of Chicago archdiocese’s censor, Margaret Nutting Ralph’s work was withheld from a resource book published by Liturgy Training Publications. Ms Ralph had given a presentation on contextual interpretation of Scripture at Read more
Britain’s House of Lords has allowed a second reading to a bill that would legalise assisted suicide, which is currently a crime. The assisted dying bill, proposed by the former Lord Chancellor, Charles Falconer, would allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to mentally competent patients who have less than six months to live. But Read more
Pope Francis and the Governor of the Bank of England have both stressed that the human person must be at the centre of the global economy. Pope Francis addressed a closed-door conference organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace held in Rome on July 11-12. Bank of England governor Mark Carney was one of Read more
Pope Francis has reportedly told a Protestant leader that he is not interested in converting evangelical Christians to Catholicism. Writing of his recent visit to Pope Francis with other leaders, World Evangelical Alliance global ambassador Brian Stiller said he asked the Pontiff what he felt about evangelism. Stiller said the Pope’s comment was: “I’m not Read more