Life is getting back to normal in Tripoli according to its Apostolic Vicar, Bishop Giovanni Martinelli. “Life begins to return slowly back to normality. There are no particular difficulties,” the bishop said. “In the past days Masses were celebrated without problems and safely,” he added. “Among the Catholics present in Libya I once again want Read more
The day before Cardinal Joseph Ratziner was elected pope, the US embassy at the Vatican said he appeared to lack sufficient support. The statement was made in an unclassified diplomatic cable, and is one of many documents made public in the latest release of Wikileaks documents. “Despite a week of media speculation suggesting that German Read more
A highly influential abbot is of the view the divisions in the Austrian Catholic Church in Austria cannot be dampened nor the current conflict resolved by a meeting between the Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonboern and representatives of dissident priests. Abbot Martin Felhofer of the Schlägl Abbey said that a threat of open schism looms Read more
It is time to end the Ireland’s confessional wars, public debate about mandatory reporting of sexual abuse and focus on real issue, the protection of children says Gary O’Sullivan in the Irish Catholic. “A Church/State conflict over the confesional seal will not serve either party,” argues O’Sullivan. So far Cardinal Sean Brady and Ireland’s Minister for Children, Read more
Over 100 Filipino pilgrims who went to Madrid’s World Youth Day have gone missing. “Fewer than 300 of the 427 delegated have returned,” said Fr Noel Osial, head of Manilia’s Don Bosco parish. “There are really some who are using this World Youth Day as an avenue (for illegal immigration) because they have relatives already Read more
Conservative Catholic and Christian groups are condemning New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to ban clergy-led prayer at the 10th anniversary commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Catholic League and the Family Research Council, say the event shows a prejudice against religion and ignores the central role religious groups played in the city’s 9/11 response. Read more
Church people and activists in Orissa are pleased with the Indian Supreme Court directive ordering a report by the Indian National Commission for Human Rights into the Orissa government’s response to the wave of anti-Christian persecution. Fides details the significant level of anti-Christian violence in Orissa 230 damaged or demolished churches and chapels 100 deaths Read more
An apologetic Vatican acknowledged “grave failures” in its handling of child sex abuse in the Cloyne diocese, however has rejected claims that it in any way hampered a clerical child abuse inquiry, and said the accusation against it was unfounded. In a long-awaited 24 page report the Vatican expressed deep concern at the findings and “abhorrence” Read more
The president of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Tedeschi, recommends avoiding ‘deceptive simplifications’ when trying to find solutions to the world’s economic crisis. The Vatican banker warns that higher taxes are not a solution to the current economic crisis and that higher taxes merely create a higher level of public spending. Rather, he said, ‘authentic global solutions’ Read more
The Church in Australia said it can assist the government in the matter of asylum seekers, and welcomed the High Court’s permanent injunction against the deportation of two asylum seekers to Malaysia, the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office said in a statement. “The Government knows our views and it also knows of the work Read more