The Vatican urged members of the UN Security Council to be “creative and courageous artisans of peace and weavers of constructive dialogue” to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine. Addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Sept 20, Archbishop Paul R Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, said Read more
World
Spanish priests criticise radio personalities over Mother Teresa comments
Monday, September 25th, 2023Several priests with a presence on social media and the civil association Enraizados have protested derogatory comments made against St Teresa of Calcutta on a radio program in Spain. On Monday this week, a contributor to the Spanish radio station Cadena SER’s main news program, Roberto Enríquez Higueras, known as Bob Pop, claimed that St Read more
Two Chinese bishops attending the Synod on Synodality
Monday, September 25th, 2023The Vatican announced on Thursday that two bishops from mainland China have been added as official delegates in the upcoming Synod on Synodality assembly. Bishop Antonio Yao Shun of Jining and Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun will travel from China to Rome to participate as full members of the Oct 4–28 Synod of Bishops Read more
Police want Vatican report into Broome Bishop’s sex abuse
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
A Vatican report into sex abuse allegations against Christopher Saunders, the former Bishop of Broome, has sparked renewed interest from the Western Australian police. The police have twice investigated Saunders (73) and not charged him, and are now calling on Church authorities to allow them to see the report. The Vatican report identifies Saunders as Read more
Religion in China: research reveals surprising insights
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
The Pew Research Center has released a groundbreaking 160-page report shedding light on the state of religion in China. Faith in the world’s second most populous country has been under constant suppression for 74 years. The report, which delves into the challenging task of collecting data in a nation known for tight media control and Read more
Caritas Ukraine humanitarian aid warehouse obliterated
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
Pope Francis has resolutely condemned the use of “conventional weapons” against civilian targets. In a message sent to Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Cardinal Peter Turkson, the condemnation comes after a Russian drone attack in Lviv, Ukraine, obliterated a Caritas-Spes-owned warehouse containing humanitarian aid. The secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, said the Russian Read more
Former Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit cleared of sexual assault charges
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
Former Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit (pictured) has been cleared of allegations of sexual assault. The prosecutor’s office closed the investigation due to a lack of evidence of criminal activity. In November 2022, French police began the investigation following a complaint filed by the Archdiocese of Paris that Aupetit had sexually assaulted a woman who Read more
New anti-crime ministry considered in Mexico
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
An upsurge in violence in Mexico has got Catholics there looking at different ways to combat the country’s escalating crime statistics. They are looking to laypeople, especially the young, to cooperate with the law. “We have had meetings of businessmen, women, young people, consecrated men and women, seminarians, priests…” says Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López, Mexico Read more
Catholics call for removal of ‘abhorrent’ pro-abortion ad over depiction of Jesus Christ
Thursday, September 21st, 2023A non-profit Catholic advocacy group is speaking out against an ad in Ohio supporting abortion that depicts an image of Jesus Christ and a man praying inside a church to promote “abortion rights.” The ad in question, posted by Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, includes a shot of a man kneeling and praying inside a Read more
Blood of St Januarius ‘completely liquefied’ on feast day
Thursday, September 21st, 2023The blood of the martyr St Januarius again liquefied in Naples on Tuesday. “We have just taken from the safe the reliquary with the blood of our patron saint, which immediately completely liquefied,” the abbot of the chapel of the treasury of the Naples Cathedral announced on Sept 19. The declaration that the miracle had Read more