Former US vice-president, Dick Cheney says torturing captured al-Qaids leaders was a necessary step in capturing Osama bin Laden. Speaking ahead of ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Cheney said “enhanced interrogation” produced “phenomenal” results, and he rejected the use of torture undermined the moral authority of the United States. Cheney Read more
The Irish Government toned-down its recent fury and in what has been described as an ‘uneasy peace’, welcomed the Vatican’s response to the Cloyne report. However despite the Vatican’s expression of shame and apology to victims of sexual abuse, the Irish Government has not backed away from its earlier harsh criticism of the Holy See. Read more
A lawsuit by a man claiming he was molested for years by the founder of conservative Catholic order, the Legionaries of Christ, will go ahead. The lawsuit by Jose Raul Gonzalez Lara claims Legionaries of Christ failed to protect him from their founder and known pedophile Fr Marcial Maciel. It also accuses Legionaries of Christ officials Read more
The Catholic Church in Adelaide denies it delayed investigating allegations of rape and sex abuse by a Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth. Over the weekend, the Australian revealed that Fr John Hepworth fled the Catholic priesthood in 1972 after enduring sexual abuse from two priests and a fellow seminarian for twelve years. After leaving, Read more
Berlin authorities have rejected the erection of large election-type billboards to welcome Pope Benedict to Germany. The billboards are already in use by Chancellor, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in its Berlin election campaign, and the CDU had been agreed they would hand the billboards over for use to welcome the Pope after the election. Local authorities however Read more
Violence must never be carried out in God’s name Pope Benedict insisted as he marked the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. “The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators’ claim to be acting in God’s name,” he said. In a letter sent a letter to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Read more
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny is standing by his comments that the Vatican hampered an enquiry into child sex abuse by Irish priests. Kenny’s original remarks have been widely applauded in Ireland but in its response late last week, the Vatican said Kenny’s accusations were “unfounded.” “Every organization, either faith or any other, will understand Read more
Australian schools will be able to choose to employ chaplains or secular welfare officers in a programme announced recently by Education Minister Peter Garrett. According to the ABC, the $222 million program has been under fire since being announced in the budget, with the Greens concerned that chaplains had to be attached to religious organisations Read more
Australia’s Catholic bishops want politicians to think again about tough crime campaigns and look to creative sentencing options, saying Australia is putting too many convicts in prison. While Australia’s crime rates have remained steady, the bishops’ say the number of those behind bars has doubled between 1984 and 2008. They call the growth a “disproportion”. “While society will always Read more
Austrian media are making the dissident priests’ call to reform something more than it is according to Michael Pruller, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vienna. Cardinal Schonborn is however interested in working with the dissenting Austrian priests to help bring new life to Viennese parishes, Pruller said. Pruller confirmed that despite media reports to the Read more