A health expert last week praised the Church in the Philippines for the way in which it is helping patients with HIV/AIDS, but criticized its stand on preventing the disease’s spread. “The Church, especially the nuns, has been especially supportive,” said Dr. Ofelia Monzon, founding president of the AIDS Society of the Philippines, adding that Read more
A political and social commitment is needed to change the abortion situation, say the New Zealand Catholic Bishops. They think the recent example of a 16 year old girl having an abortion without parental knowledge or consent is a disturbing example of the law letting down our young people and undermining family values. The New Read more
Priest sexual offenders came from seminary classes in the 1940’s and 1950’s who were not trained to confront the upheavals of the 1960’s when behavioural norms were upended, researchers hired by the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference have concluded. The report conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, also found few priest offenders were pedophiles abusers were not Read more
Heaven’s a fairy story for people afraid of the dark, physicist Stephen Hawking said earlier this week. There is nothing beyond when the brain flickers for the final time. Hawking, diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease at 21, is now aged 69. “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 Read more
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, is not convinced by a Vatican-appointed committee of climate experts who are warning about the need to mitigate man-made global warming. Pell maintains the causes of climate change were ”unclear”. The report released this month by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences called on ”all people and nations to Read more
Philadelphia sex-abuse chair, Ana Maria Catanzaro, has blasted her Cardinal, Justin Rigali and his bishops for their response to the sexual abuse problem in the archdiocese. Writing in Commonweal, a lay Catholic magazine, Catanzaro wrote the Philadelphia cardinal “failed miserably at being open and transparent.” “What will it take for bishops to accept that their attitude Read more
Australian researchers have managed to “trick” human kidney cells into reverting to generalised cells able to develop into virtually any type of tissue in the body. Creating stem cells without the use of embryos offers scientists a powerful new set of tools for studying the molecular mechanisms driving genetic kidney disorders such as polycystic kidney Read more
The Vatican’s circular letter to all Bishops’ conferences to assist them to develop guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy has received a mixed reaction. The general consensus is that it is a step in the right direction but the guidelines for handling sex abuse leave a key issue unaddressed – Read more
The Vatican has instructed bishops to be generous in offering the faithful Tridentine Mass if they request it. The instruction, issued by the Ecclesia Dei Commission and approved by Pope Benedict on May 13, says Tridentine Masses should be made available to even small groups of people. However these “traditional catholics” are not permitted to Read more
More than 400,000 Congo women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 were raped during the 12-month period of war in 2006 and 2007. This new figure is 26 times more than the 15,000 women that the United Nations has reported were raped there during the same 12 months. The figures were published Read more