Pope Francis has emphasised the “fundamental” importance of women in the Catholic Church, saying they have a privileged role because of their ability to pass on the faith through love. He said women have always had a special mission in the Church as “first witnesses” of Christ’s Resurrection, and because they pass the faith on Read more
The Catholic Church in Ireland has been told it must divert itself of 23 primary schools across the country following a survey of parental preferences for more plurality and choice. The bishops in the 23 areas have been given six months to provide detailed proposals on how they plan to divest a school of their Read more
The Catholic Church in Australia has declared it wants the truth exposed before the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, and has pledged it will pay appropriate compensation to victims. The chief executive of the Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council — which will represent the Church at the royal commission — Read more
In two television interviews aired on Easter Sunday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said Catholics should show more love to gays and lesbians. In an ABC interview he was asked, “What do you say to a gay couple who says, we love God, we love the Church, but we also love each other and Read more
New tests conducted at the University of Padua have confirmed that the Shroud of Turin can be dated back to around the first century AD. This dating is compatible with the tradition that the cloth with the image of a crucified man imprinted on it is the one in which Jesus’ body was wrapped when Read more
In an historic meeting, Pope Francis and Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI prayed side-by-side in the chapel at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. “In the chapel, the Pope Emeritus offered the place of honour to Pope Francis, but he said: ‘We are brothers’, and wanted them to kneel together in the same place,” said Read more
A question mark hangs over the future of the Vatican Bank as Pope Francis is reported to be considering suggestions from two cardinals that it be closed. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, tipped as a possible Vatican Secretary of State, told The Sunday Times that Francis would consider appeals made by Cardinals Christoph Schönborn of Vienna Read more
An Argentine pacifist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 has come to the defence of Pope Francis’s actions between 1976 and 1983, when the military ruled the nation. Adolfo Perez Esquivel said Pope Francis preferred to carry out a “silent diplomacy” in helping victims, rather than leading a more public outcry during Argentina’s Read more
An American bishop has pulled back from implementing a morals pledge for teachers in Catholic schools, requiring them to affirm Church teachings on matters such as abortion, contraception and same-sex marriage. Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa in California had intended to require all teachers and administrators — Catholic and non-Catholic — to “agree that Read more
Cardinal Keith O’Brien had a long-term physical relationship with one of the priests whose complaints against him led to his removal as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, according to Church sources cited by the Herald Scotland. Cardinal O’Brien went into retirement after admitting “there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below Read more