The United States Government has issued its annual report deploring attacks on religious freedom around the world, but a former US diplomat says it is doing little to promote religious freedom. The latest report, from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, says the “escalating attack” on religious freedom constitutes an ongoing crisis equal to that of Read more
A review of a programme to bring overseas priests into an Australian diocese has revealed the priests received inadequate orientation and their parishes were poorly prepared to receive them. The review by a working party in Maitland-Newcastle diocese, north of Sydney, recommended continuing the programme. But it said further invitations to overseas priests should be Read more
A new Israeli-American study has found that women can halve the risk of developing Alzheimers disease by praying regularly. The research was conducted among 600 residents over the age of 65 in the Arab community of Wadi Ara in northern Israel. It could not determine whether prayer cuts the risk of developing Alzheimers disease among Read more
The Holy See has ordered two retired Slovenian bishops to withdraw from public life — one of them because he is believed to have fathered two children. Monsignor Alojz Uran, who served as Archbishop of Ljubljana and Primate of Solvenia from 2004 until 2009, has been ordered to move to the northern Italian city of Read more
The Chinese government is punishing seven priests of Heilongjiang province who refused to co-operate in the illicit episcopal ordination of Father Joseph Yue Fusheng on July 6. Government officials have forced all seven to leave their parishes to “repent of their wrongdoing”. Local sources say they are now either staying with parishioners, have returned to Read more
The Vatican has backed efforts to draft a landmark international treaty to control the $NZ74 billion arms industry, but discussions by more than 170 countries ended without a decision. Diplomats said the door is still open for further talks, with the possibility of a draft arms treaty being brought to the United Nations General Assembly Read more
The Dominican Republic’s cardinal has denounced the “international scandal” of violence against women in his Caribbean nation, better known for sunshine and sandy beaches. Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez made his views known to President Leonel Fernandez during a two-hour meeting as the president approached the end of his term of office. In the Read more
The Vatican has flatly denied European media reports that three officials close to Pope Benedict are being investigated in connection with the leaking of confidential paper documents. A report in the online edition of the German newspaper Die Welt, republished in the Italian daily La Repubblica, claimed the involvement of the three officials in the Read more
Pressure is mounting in China for a change in the “one-child” policy that has resulted in forced abortions and sterilisations, according to a New York Times report. Recent reports of local officials coercing women into late-term abortions have prompted an outcry among policy advisers and scholars who are trying to push central government officials to Read more
The teachings of the Second Vatican Council have emerged as the main obstacle to reconciliation between the Society of St Pius X and the Holy See. Three conditions for SSPX reconciliation with Rome have been revealed in a letter from its secretary-general, Father Christian Thouvenot, to regional superiors. Part of the first condition is “The Read more