Once known as “Via Cernaia” by Marist Priests who lived and studied there, the building now owned by the Australian Church has been opened by Pope Benedict XVI as an Australian pilgrim centre and has been named “Domus Australia”. The Pontiff spent 45 minutes leading a brief religious service and then inspecting “Domus Australia”, a Read more
The Australian Bishops at the end of their “ad limina” visit to the Vatican have stated their support for the Pope’s decision to remove the Bishop of Toowoomba from his position. In interviews with Catholic News Service and in their statement, the bishops said they had a special meeting with Cardinals Marc Ouellet, prefect of Read more
The Conference of European Rabbis say Bishop Richard Williamson – already known for publicly denying the Holocaust – and head of a splinter group in France, have recently revived the accusation that Jews killed Jesus. European rabbis urged the Vatican on Wednesday to suspend unity talks with an ultra-traditionalist Catholic rebel society until the movement Read more
Sic transit Gloria Mundi; the gruesome death of the Muammar Gaddafi, the self styled “King of Kings”, is a dramatic demonstation that cruelty breeds cruelty. There is an ever present danger of becoming, in victory, the very thing we are seek to subdue; evil dies and rises again. It has left many people thinking “Even Read more
Actress and social activist Susan Sarandon managed to offend both Jews and Catholics by reportedly calling Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi. Her comment, it seemed, was an attempt to say something nice about Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Sarandon called Pope Benedict a Nazi during a public discussion at a U.S. film festival in Read more
The Oct. 27 gathering of religious leaders in Assisi to discuss global peace will include four leading atheists, but will not include any common prayer. “It is an exercise of dialogue, and dialogue always respects the specific identity of the people, of individuals,” said Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Read more
In an interview on Vatican Radio, Queen’s Counsel, human rights campaigner and wife of former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, spoke of her Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. The foundation helps women in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to play an increasingly important role in their economies. She believes that through the use of Read more
Australian bishops had a special meeting with top Vatican officials in mid-October to discuss the case of a bishop Pope Benedict XVI removed from office after years of tension with a variety of Vatican offices. The meeting with the cardinals was “an indication of the seriousness with which the Roman authorities in the dicasteries here Read more
In a message marking World Food Day 2011, Pope Benedict XVI has indicated the tools that today’s businesses and governments need to implement now to eradicate global hunger: “A change in lifestyle and a necessary moderation of behavior and consumption”. He stated that food should not be equated with other merchandise and therefore should not Read more
Sister Luzia Wetzel, the coordinator of the Zambia’a youth Alive HIV/Aids prevention programme, said, “Condoms are not the solution to Aids.” Sister Wetzel has had 40 years experience working in Africa and believes that rather than emphasizing the use of condoms, behaviour change is the key to tackling the problem. The Youth Alive programme, which has Read more