Sister Anne Montgomery, an American nun who gave more than 30 years of her life to protesting against nuclear weapons, has died at the age of 85. Sister Anne, a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart, took part in the so-called Plowshares actions from 1980 until 2009. From 1980 she was in full-time Read more
Italian police have recovered a vial of blood from Pope John Paul II contained in a backpack which three thieves stole from a priest on a train. The priest, Father Augusto Baldini, had left Rome for a sanctuary near the port of Civitavecchia, where the relic was to be put on display. When he got Read more
There is no conflict between evolutionary biology and belief in God, two professors have asserted during a session on faith and science during the international Rimini Meeting in Italy. The annual event, in the northern Italian resort city of Rimini, brings together international experts on religion, politics, economics, science and the arts to debate cutting-edge Read more
Pope Benedict has called for lay people to be seen as truly co-responsible for “the being and acting” of the Church, not just as collaborators with the clergy. “Co-responsibility,” he said, “requires a change in mentality, particularly with regard to the role of the laity in the Church.” “It is important, therefore,” he added, “that Read more
The Catholic Church in Ireland has denied a report in the Irish Catholic newspaper that plans are being drawn up to allow parishes to hold lay-led Sunday services. But, across the Irish Sea, the archdiocese of Liverpool is preparing to have lay people conduct funeral services and committals at the graveside when no priest is Read more
A media battle for euthanasia is being waged in Britain in the wake of a court decision refusing a paralysed man the right to end his life. Tony Nicklinson, paralysed from the neck down after a stroke seven years ago, died of natural causes a week after three High Court judges ruled that Parliament should Read more
A traditionalist religious order with a community in Christchurch has been formally recognised as a diocesan institute within the Catholic Church. The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, based on a tiny windswept island in the Orkney Isles, Scotland, was formerly part of the breakaway Society of St Pius X. In a Read more
In an atmosphere of regional sectarian tensions, the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicar for Northern Arabia is being transferred from Kuwait to Bahrain, where the royal family has given land for the vicariate and a new church. The apostolic vicar, Bishop Camillo Ballin, said the move is being made because Bahrain is more central and Read more
Dismissing a 10-year-old attempt to hold the Holy See liable for sexual abuse, a federal judge in the United States has ruled that a priest accused of molestation was not employed by the Vatican. The ruling in an Oregon courtroom came in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the late Father Andrew Ronan, Read more
Chinese authorities have closed both Catholic seminaries in Shanghai diocese, apparently in retaliation for newly ordained Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin’s public resignation from the state-sponsored Catholic Patriotic Association. Coadjutor Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, the head of Shanghai’s “open” church, issued a notice to Sheshan Major Seminary and Tailaiqiao Minor Seminary stating classes had been delayed Read more