Father Ottavio Posta was honoured, as he was given posthumously the title of Righteous Among the Nations. Father Ottavio Posta saved 30 Jews who had been prisoners in the castle on Isola Maggiore, an island on Lake Trasimeno, in central Italy. Doctor Isabella Farinelli discovered a number of documents in which Jews who escaped deportation Read more
Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said he would not lead his diocese into a schism with leaders in the Vatican by letting priests flout Church rules after a group of priests issued a “Call to Disobedience” manifesto to try to press reform. The head of Vienna’s Roman Catholic community ruled out sweeping changes demanded by dissident Read more
Mgr Martinelli supports rebels’ good intentions in building the new Libya. “We must back the rebels’ good intentions rather than take their words to extremes,” said Mgr Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli. The bishop of Tripoli will return to Libya on Thursday where he hopes to meet the rebel leader, Mustafa Jalil, who says the country’s new Read more
Some Jewish groups expressed concern on Friday that the 40 years of progress in Catholic-Jewish relations could be brought into jeopardy by the Vatican’s outreach to traditionalist Catholics. The Vatican told the Society of St. Pius X that they must accept some core church teachings if they want to be fully reintegrated into the church. Read more
Starting today, meatless Fridays are ‘back in’ as Catholic practice in England and Wales. Since 1985 it has been possible for Catholics in England and Wales to substitute some other form of penance instead of giving up meat, however the English and Welsh Bishops’ decided to restore meatless Fridays because they believe Catholics forget their Read more
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, on Tuesday evening, used parliamentary privilege to name and shame an Adelaide priest, Monsignor Ian Dempsey, accusing him of raping and sexually abusing Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth. Xenophon dismissed the presumption of innocence in Parliament, saying in his opinion the Adelaide Archdiocese had taken too long to resolve the Read more
A group representing victims of sexual abuse has lodged a formal declaration with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Pope Benedict and three Vatican officials of crimes against humanity. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) allege that Vatican officials tolerated and enabled the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes. “If the Read more
Retired Irish Catholic bishop, Edward Daly has added his voice calling for the end of the church’s celibacy requirement for priests. “Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, major decisions must be made,” Daly writes in his new book A Troubled See, Memoirs of a Derry Bishop. Daly, who as a priest, and waving just a Read more
The Vatican has given the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) little room to manoeuvre if it wants to be reconciled with Rome. At a meeting between Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of SSPX and Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, Fellay received a document detailing the “doctrinal principles and criteria Read more
Catholic women are being urged to write to their bishop to protest at sexist language in the new version of the Roman missal. Fr Sean McDonagh of Ireland’s Association of Catholic priests said it was obvious from the language of the new missal that not a single woman had been consulted while it was being Read more