Despite positioning himself as the leading religious Republican candidate, known to be a daily Mass-goer, Catholic Rick Santorum has failed to win the Catholic vote in any state. Instead, he has performed will among the evangelical Christian voters. Santorum, who has spoken spoken with a conservative voice on social issues, a man who seeks prayers Read more
Britain’s Conservative MP’s have begun lobbying Prime Minister David Cameron to select a traditionalist candidate as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. In the midst of Britain’s debate on redefining marriage to include people of the same sex, Peter Bone, the MP for Wellingbrough and Rushden is one urging Cameron to choose someone who represents the Church’s traditional Read more
The Vatican has rejected a submission from the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) on terms for which SSPX’s reconciliation might be possible. On Friday, Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, SSPX leader. The meeting was held at the Vatican and lasted for Read more
Distressed by disloyalty, Pope Benedict has set up a special commission to investigate what has been popularly dubbed “Vati-leaks”. The establishment of the commission coincides with the Vatican’s launch of an internal criminal investigation into leaked personal confidential and financial documents which have exposed power stuggles inside the organisation. Monsignor Angelo Becciu, undersecretary in the Read more
Ahead of his visit Pope Benedict extended a gesture of friendship and returned a 60cm crocodile to Cuba, its native country. The endangered crocodile was smuggled into Italy by an Italian tourist and was captured in the thief’s kitchen by wildlife experts. Blessed by the Pope’s chief of staff Monsignor Giovanni Angelo Becciu, and named Benedictus, Read more
The Obama administration announced what it saw as a new accommodations on the controversial contraception mandate that obliged Catholic organisations to provide contraceptive health care coverage. Under attack from the US Catholic Bishops, Catholic hospitals and other institutions, the proposal seeks to shift the cost of providing birth control coverage onto insurance companies and prohibiting Read more
Pope Benedict was visiting Cuba as a pligrim, honouring Cuba’s patron on the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin of Charity said Cuban Cardinal, Jamie Ortega. Ortega made the statements in a rare state TV address, granted to him by Cuban authorities. “There was great interest in this pilgrimage because the pope is determined Read more
A Washington priest who denied a Lesbian the opportunity of Holy Communion at her mother’s funeral, says his suspension has “everything to do” with his decision to deny Barbara Johnson Communion. According to the Washington Post, when Johnson approached Fr Marcel Guarnizo for Communion, Guarnizo put his hand over the Host and said, “I can’t give you Read more
The Red Bull energy drink company has dropped the ‘Jesus walks on water‘ campaign in South Africa. The campaign originally aired on Tuesday but was gone by Wednesday after successful protests from Catholics and Muslims who labelled the ad ‘offensive’. The cartoon ad picks up on the familiar Gospel story of Jesus walking on the Read more
Pope Benedict has invited the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to give some theological reflections at October’s world Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation. “I’m being invited to give some theological reflections on the nature of mission, the nature of evangelization, and I’m extremely honored to be invited to do this,” Williams told Vatican Read more