Filling a water pistol with holy water and using it for blessings or baptisms is not right. Several priests have reacted against their brother priests for keeping a social distance and baptising babies with a water pistol. The photos appearing to depict blessings or baptisms by water pistol went viral online. In one photo, a Read more
The great doorway to growing in the Christian faith is narrowing from year to year in Quebec as baptisms have significantly declined in since 2012 and there’s no indication the trend will reverse. Confronted with a shift away from traditional practices of transmitting the faith in childhood, leaders in the Quebec church are rethinking how Read more
The Catholic Church will benefit from many new Catholics in different parts of the world this Easter. As an example, over a thousand people took part in Rites of Election at cathedrals and churches across England and Wales last weekend. All declared their hope to become Catholics at Easter. Most dioceses in the UK have Read more
The China-based Faith Institute for Cultural Studies says there were about 48,000 Catholic baptisms last year in the People’s Republic. The institute says it gathered the data from 104 Catholic dioceses recognised by the Chinese authorities. These dioceses are scattered in over 30 national provincial divisions. In common with previous years, the research found the Read more
The Australian Border Force is preventing a baby who was born seven months ago in a Melbourne immigration detention centre from being baptised in a church, according to the family and a Catholic priest. A United Nations body is now examining whether Australia is breaching its human rights obligations by holding the infant in arbitrary Read more
A former Australian governor general, Labor leader and avowed atheist says he has found God again at age 85. “There’s been a gnawing pain in my heart and soul about what is the meaning of life. What’s my role in it?” Bill Hayden says. Hayden has often been cited as one of Australia’s most prominent Read more
Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, says baptising babies is a violation of their human rights. By baptising children before they have reached the age of reason, the Church is creating “infant conscripts who are held to lifelong obligations of obedience,” she says. “You can’t impose, really, obligations on people who are only two weeks old Read more
Mexico’s earthquake last week turned a day of joy into disaster for a family gathered at the Santiago the Apostle Catholic Church. Eleven members of the family gathering for a baptism died when the earthquake caused the ceiling to fall in. The infant was among the dead. The only survivors were the baby’s father, the Read more
There are plenty of things for which I thank God: good friends, the health of my children, the glorious tenth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum. Another is the fact that my wife and I were never made to attend a Catholic marriage preparation course. If we had been members of a parish where the mind-numbingly dull half-year Read more
It’s a rite that dates to the time of Jesus, who was dunked in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. But Christians in East Africa are now taking stock of their practice after after a full immersion baptism turned tragic in northern Tanzania. Two Christian farmers, aged 30 and 47, died as their pastors Read more