Pope Francis on Saturday confirmed the appointment of new officials in the Roman Curia. American Archbishop Augustine Di Noia was named an “adjunct secretary” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he previously served as under-secretary from 2002 to 2009. Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, previously the prefect of the Congregation for the Read more
A report by the Associated Press said Pope Francis’ call to focus less on divisive social issues poses a challenge for US bishops. Catholic leaders in America have adopted a more aggressive style of defending the faith in recent years. They said they had to because society was moving so far from traditional beliefs on Read more
The Vatican has removed an auxiliary bishop from his post in a Peruvian province because of allegations he sexually abused children. Gabino Miranda has been dismissed as auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Ayacucho in southern Peru after he was accused of having sexual relations with minors. “It is what the pope said – zero Read more
Manila archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said Vatican officials are looking forward to the Asian faith conference that will be held in Manila next month. “The eyes of the Vatican are on us,” Tagle said in a statement released by his office at the weekend. The Manila prelate said the Vatican Office of the New Read more
The Catholic Church will “fall like a house of cards” unless its leaders are able to strike a “new balance” between their political activities and their spiritual mission, Pope Francis said in an unprecedented 10,000 word interview. The pope declared himself to be “a sinner” in the literal sense, adding that it is “the most Read more
The Vatican early this week renewed the Catholic church’s call for global disarmament of nuclear weapons, telling a yearly assembly of world leaders they must reject “the temptation to face new situations with old systems.” Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, told the conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Read more
A prelate, who was earlier arrested for allegedly laundering Vatican money, told a magistrate that the Vatican department in charge of paying salaries and managing real estate acted improperly as a parallel bank. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, 61, who is under investigation, said the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, known as APSA, allowed Read more
Sister Margaret Farley, author of the book “Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics,” continues to support the cause for gay marriage even after she was silenced by the Vatican last year for her book. The Vatican ruled that Sister Farley’s book didn’t uphold Catholic moral teaching. Irish American Sister Farley graduated, taught and Read more
Researchers said holy water at religious shrines and churches in Austria is often contaminated with fecal matter and bacteria. Scientists at Vienna University medical school’s Institute of Hygiene and Applied Immunology advised the faithful not to drink water, especially in hospital chapels. They came to the conclusion after analyzing the water quality at 21 “holy” Read more
Pope Francis has stopped granting priests the honorary title of “monsignor,” the London-based Catholic weekly The Tablet reported. The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Robert Mickens said the pontiff first made the decision in April shortly after his election as pope. The title monsignor is an honorific of sorts normally granted to priests as a reward for Read more