Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler who has been accused of the theft of confidential documents from the papal apartment, will take the witness stand on Tuesday. During Saturday’s start of the trial, the Vatican tribunal said Gabriele’s trial will be separate from that of Claudio Sciarpelletti who was charged for allegedly aiding and Read more
Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday told Catholics to rejoice, and not be jealous, when non-Catholics or other Christians do good. “God can do good and even amazing things outside the circle” of the Catholic Church, the pope said during his midday Angelus address. The pope quoted St. Augustine who said that just as there could Read more
The Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, on Friday said a papyrus that appears to show an early Christian referring to Jesus’ wife “a fake.” “Substantial reasons would lead us to conclude that the papyrus is actually a clumsy counterfeit,” the newspaper said in an editorial. “In other words, in any case it is a fake,” wrote Read more
Pope Benedict’s bid to draw rebel Catholic traditionalists back to the Roman fold seems to have hit a dead end with little apparent hope of a solution, a Reuters report said. Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of the leaders of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), who Church officials expect will send a formal reply Read more
The Russian Orthodox Church on Sunday asked for clemency for three jailed members of the rock band Pussy Riot if they repent for their “punk prayer” for deliverance from President Vladimir Putin. A report by the Associated Press, however, said it was unclear whether the women, who were sentenced to two years last month, would Read more
Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, will go on trial Saturday for allegedly stealing the pope’s documents and passing them off to a journalist in what has since been dubbed as the Vatileaks scandal. Gabriele has been charged with aggravated theft and faces up to four years in prison if convicted by the three-judge Read more
Authorities and the Catholic Church in the Philippines will look into the possible involvement of a priest in the illegal trade of ivory after his collection of ivory religious icons was featured in National Geographic magazine. Monsignor Cristobal Garcia is quoted in the October issue of the magazine as describing how to bring ivory figurines Read more
Judges at the Leipzig Federal Administrative Court in Germany agreed with Catholic bishops that German Catholics who refuse to pay a special church tax can be banned from Catholic worship. A report by Reuters said the verdict, which was based on German corporate law, upheld the system by which the state collects religious taxes from Read more
A new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that support among Catholic voters for US President Barack Obama has surged since June despite the Catholic bishops’ religious freedom campaign. On June 17, Obama held a slight edge over Mitt Romney among Catholics (49-47 percent). Since then, Obama has surged ahead, and now leads Read more
The Church of England on Wednesday started the process of choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Reports said the move is aimed at preventing 80 million Anglicans worldwide from splitting over issues of gay marriage and women bishops. A report by Reuters said the new church leader must reconcile modernists and traditionalists in the Church, Read more