The world’s governments must give “absolute priority” to the fundamental human rights of refugees, a new Vatican document declares. The strongly worded document, entitled Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, was released jointly by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. It says Catholic laity have an obligation to Read more
Prosecutors in South Australia have recommended that no charges be laid against a Catholic priest who was accused of sexual assault by the former world leader of the Traditional Anglican Communion. Archbishop John Hepworth, who led the conservative Anglican group until he was ousted in an acrimonious policy dispute last year, had caused a sensation Read more
The Catholic Church in Victoria has revised its figures for the number of people abused by priests and religious, producing a total 37 per cent per cent higher than previously given to the state’s parliamentary inquiry. In a new submission the Church said it has now identified 849 victims and 269 offenders. The previous submission Read more
EWTN, the Catholic network that has become the world’s largest religious broadcaster, is staking out a presence in America’s political heartland by launching an evening newscast from Washington. The live, half-hour show, scheduled to start in July, is a major step for the broadcaster, whose message is typically expressed through devotional talk shows, replays of Read more
Turkey’s foreign ministry has protested to the Vatican after Pope Francis referred to the mass murder of Armenians as “the first genocide of the 20th century”. The Pope alluded briefly to the Armenian genocide during a meeting with Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni of Cilicia. An estimated 1 to 1.5 million Armenians died Read more
The ongoing work of protecting young people from sexual abuse has received strong encouragement from Pope Francis. “This is important work; keep it up!” he said three times during a meeting with a participant in an international conference on the subject. The annual Anglophone Conference on the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Read more
Modern Catholic church design aimed at winning awards rather than for the worship of God has been criticised by Vatican officials. “The lack of integration between the architect and the faith community has at times been negative,” said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture. “Sometimes it goes wrong.” And Antonio Read more
Pope Francis has expressed pleasure at meeting “a wise man” after a private audience with the Uruguayan president, Jose Mujica, an atheist. Mujica, a former guerilla fighter, has been described as “the world’s ‘poorest’ president”. He donates 90 per cent of his salary to charities, lives with his wife in a modest farmhouse instead of Read more
Three retired Australian bishops are calling for a new ecumenical council — including lay people — to “confront the issues that contribute to the causes of systemic sexual abuse” in the Catholic Church. The group is led by Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who retired as auxiliary bishop of Sydney in 2004, aged 66, partly because of Read more
In his most powerful environment-themed address to date, Pope Francis has condemned the “culture of waste” and the economic system in which “men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption”. Speaking on World Environment Day, the Pope referred to the proper stewardship of the earth. “Are we truly cultivating and caring Read more