Muslims around the world marked the end of Ramadan, ending the holy month of fasting with the Eid al-Fitr festival over the weekend. In Palestine, President Mahmoud Abbas placed a wreath on the grave of his predecessor Yasser Arafat. In France, which has some five million Muslims, the Great Mosque of Paris intervened to settle Read more
A “new attitude” of cooperation and equality must govern relations between the Vatican and Catholic sisters around the world, the National Catholic Reporter said, quoting a key Vatican cardinal. That attitude, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz said in May, must be grounded in the understanding that both the church hierarchy and the sisters “are two Read more
A former official at the Vatican office responsible for reaching out to Catholic priests in schism with the church over the Second Vatican Council has been returned to the post. Guido Pozzo, a curial official who was made an archbishop in the interim period, is once again the secretary for the pontifical commission “Ecclesia Dei.” Read more
The fate of a Jesuit priest who went missing in northern Syria last month remains unknown, Italy’s foreign minister said on Friday. “We have been receiving various reports that turn out to have no substance and which often appear aimed at derailing the investigation,” said Foreign Minister Emma Bonino. “We are dealing with warring groups,” Read more
An American bishop last week said local Church leaders in Madagascar have given their assurances that the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) adheres to Catholic teaching. Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, said he and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York had spoken to Madagascar’s Archbishop Odon Razanakolona of Antananarivo and Archbishop Désiré Tsarahazana of Read more
Pope Francis on Thursday intensified the fight against corruption in the Vatican by strengthening the law to counter “money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” The pope issued a decree expanding the role and the reach of the Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority “in response to a recommendation” of Read more
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney has said that Pope Francis’s popularity with the media is “too good to last.” The Catholic Herald reported that the cardinal made the remark in a reflection on World Youth Day in Rio. His comment followed the Pope being called “awesome” by the men’s magazine Esquire and his face appearing Read more
The US State Department will be reaching out more to religious leaders and communities at home and abroad, news reports quoted Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry announced on Wednesday the creation of a new “Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives” within the State Department. “I want you to go out and engage religious leaders and Read more
Church leaders in Sri Lanka accused the country’s military of shooting unarmed protesters and desecrating a church during demonstrations against water contamination. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, condemned “unhesitatingly” the military shooting that killed three people and wounded more than 50 others last week. “We wish to condemn unhesitatingly the attack that was carried Read more
An American man who claimed he was sexually abused by a priest nearly 50 years ago has withdrawn his appeal of a ruling that said the Vatican did not employ the priest and is not liable for damages. Lawyer Jeff Anderson named the Vatican as one of the defendants in the 2002 lawsuit he filed Read more