A group of Muslims in France have asked to gather in the unused Catholic churches for their Friday Prayer. Spokesman for “Banlieuses Respect” Hassan Ben M’Barek suggests it would mean, “Muslims don’t need to perform their prayers on public roads, which makes them “hostages of politics”. On Friday’s in France it is not uncommon for Muslims Read more
Japan and South Korea churches are working together in an effort to alleviate suffering in the light of the Japanese earthquake. Japan’s closest neighbours have begun to set aside long-term animosities in an effort to help the region most affected by last week’s devastating earthquake. With a drive to help Japan spreading across South Korea, Read more
Giving up a bad habit for Lent may make you feel less guilty or cleanse your soul if you are religious. This is the outcome of a University of Queensland research that identifies some self-inflicted pain helps ease the psychological burden of immoral behaviour. Researchers wanted to test the hypothesis that people seek out pain Read more
The market research used by the Vatican to select possible bishops could breach Australian anti-discrimination law. The questionnaire sent to carefully selected clergy and lay people asks about potential bishop’s orthodoxy, personal qualities, loyalty to the Pope, commitment to celibacy, the potential bishop’s public image and his opposition to women priests. The form also inquired about his Read more
The Vatican is running a two-month course on how to make saints. The two-month March course is bringing together 80 students from around the world to train them in the skills needed to advance the cause of their potential saint. Patience, attention to detail and being prepared to commit to what might be decades of Read more
Pope Benedict rejects the idea of violence in the name of Jesus and dismisses the idea that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death. In the second of his planned trilogy, Benedict says there can be no justification for violence carried out in Jesus’ name. “The cruel consequences of religiously motivated violence are only too evident Read more
An estimated six hundred Anglicans and 20 Anglican clergy became Roman Catholic on Ash Wednesday. These new Catholics will join the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a unique grouping created by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans left feeling isolated since the Church of England decided in 1992 to ordain women as priests. Those joining the Read more
A blogger is planning to give up food for Lent and drink beer for Lent. J Wilson, who is a home brewer intends to blog about his experience as he investigates a 300 year old tale about doppelbock beer, that is “liquid bread,” first developed for Lent by Bavarian monks in Munich, Germany. Wilson said the got Read more
The Church in crisis-torn Libya is offering shelter to stranded Bangladeshi migrant workers following an appeal by concerned bishops in their homeland. “The government is struggling to repatriate thousands of migrant workers and we can’t help them directly. With the assistance of the Vatican embassy in Dhaka, we asked the Libyan Church via the Italian Read more
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has told the financial sector to wake up from their moral sleep. Speaking at the London School of Economics he said that while some were seeking a change of culture, as a group the financial sector had failed to reform itself. “Until a different culture has taken hold, I cannot Read more