Pope Francis’ recent interview with an Italian Jesuit magazine has been blown out of proportion by the media, according to Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. “I don’t know why people, especially the media, are making an interview that looks very normal, and does not say anything new doctrinally… sound controversial,” Tagle told ucanews.com in Read more
Pope Francis will declare Popes John Paul II and John XXIII saints on April 27 next year. The announcement was made on Monday during a meeting with cardinals. The Associated Press reported that analysts have said the decision to canonize the two popes together was aimed at unifying the church because each has his own Read more
Thousands of Vietnamese Catholics took part in vigils in the cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and Vinh on Sunday to protest the continued imprisonment of Le Quoc Quan, a Catholic lawyer. AsiaNews reported that Le Quoc Quan, a member of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, has been harassed Read more
An official of Poland’s Catholic Church apologized to victims of sex abuse by priests on Friday. Prosecutors earlier said they have opened an investigation into allegations that two Polish priests, including a Vatican envoy, sexually abused boys in the Dominican Republic. Bishop Wojciech Polak, secretary of the Episcopate, told a news conference that the Church Read more
The Archbishop of Canterbury said Christians across parts of the Muslim world are being deliberately attacked because of their faith. The Most Rev Justin Welby said that there had been more than 80 Christian “martyrs” in the last few days alone. He was speaking about the bombing of All Saints Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan, Read more
Pope Francis on Tuesday called on countries to protect migrants as he condemned the treatment of refugees as mere “pawns on the chessboard of humanity.’” The pope’s statement came in a message for the Vatican’s next “World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” set for January 19. “Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard Read more
Pope Benedict XVI said he did not attempt to cover up child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The emeritus pope made the comments in an 11-page letter to prominent Italian atheist and math professor Piergiorgio Odifreddi. Excerpts from the letter were published on Tuesday in the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica with Pope Benedict’s permission. Read more
A report said the Catholic Church in the United States is seeing a growing number of men enrolled in graduate level seminaries. Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate noted that this year’s tally of 3,694 graduate theology students represents a 16 percent increase since 1995 and a 10 percent jump since 2005. Read more
The Vatican has ordered the excommunication of Catholic priest Greg Reynolds over his support for women priests and gays. The Australian news site The Age reported that the excommunication document – written in Latin – was dated May 31. Reynolds, who resigned as a parish priest in 2011 and last year founded Inclusive Catholics, said Read more
Pope Francis called for a global economic system that puts people and not “an idol called money” at its heart during a speech on Sunday in the Sardinian capital of Cagliari. Addressing about 20,000 people, the pontiff said that his parents had “lost everything” after they emigrated from Italy and that he understood the suffering Read more