Pope Francis has recently come under criticism from a growing number of traditionalist Catholics for cracking down on a religious order that celebrates the old Latin Mass. The Associated Press reported that the case has become a flashpoint in the “ideological tug-of-war” in the Catholic Church over the pontiff’s agenda. The matter concerns the Franciscan Read more
Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis told parishioners and the media on Sunday that he’s sorry he overlooked issues of abuse among parish priests. He told parishioners and reporters that he was told the issue of clergy sex abuse was taken care of when he became archbishop seven years ago. Read more
The Syrian government is negotiating with rebels to release 12 nuns seized earlier this month from a convent north of Damascus, the Associated Press quoted two activists during the weekend. The rebels are demanding that hundreds of imprisoned women activists be freed in exchange for the nuns, they said. A spokesman for the rebel brigade Read more
Amid the scramble to gather new data ahead of next October’s synod on the family, a question arises: Will church officials incorporate the wealth of insights collected in recent decades by researchers inside and outside the US church? In late October, the Vatican sent to national bishops’ conferences a preparatory document and questionnaire for the Read more
Time Magazine named Pope Francis its person of the year after nine months of his papacy. “He took the name of a humble saint and then called for a church of healing,” Time wrote in its announcement quoted by CNN. “The septuagenarian superstar is poised to transform a place that measures change by the century.” Read more
Allegations of abuse have been made against 42 priests in the diocese of Down and Connor in Ireland in the past 38 years, an audit has revealed. The review was carried out by the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children. It revealed that since 1975, 59 allegations had been made Read more
The Catholic Church on Wednesday warned Sri Lanka’s government of foreign intervention unless it worked towards reconciliation and addressed allegations of war crimes during the war against Tamil separatists. Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said he was urging President Mahinda Rajapakse and the main ethnic Tamil party to hammer out a political settlement or Read more
The Archbishop of Brisbane has admitted to “spectacular bungling” and “drastic failure” in dealing with a child sex abuse victim and flagged his willingness to revisit cases where victims’ needs have not been met. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Archbishop Mark Coleridge as saying that it was wrong that insurers and lawyers had determined how Read more
The Vatican Bank has unearthed more than 100 suspicious payments this year after starting full-scale checks on its customers for the first time to crack down on money laundering, up from six last year, said an official knowledgeable about the cleanup effort. The Los Angeles Times quoted a bank official who requested anonymity because he Read more
Pope Francis paid tribute to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela for “forging a new South Africa” and said he hoped his example would inspire the nation to strive for “justice and the common good.” The pontiff praised the “steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation’s citizens and in Read more