In the next 60 seconds, 28 girls will be married. Another 28 will be married in the minute after that. And then 28 more. And so on. Every year, 15 million children become wives. Young women who are actually still girls — but who already have a husband, and sometimes even a child: It is Read more
Rio Olympics are a “huge missed opportunity” to improve the lives of the country’s poorest, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) has said. With all eyes on Brazil this summer for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Cafod said that the plight of Brazil’s indigenous peoples and the Amazon should be centre stage.Read more
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian archbishop who has been dogged by scandals and controversies. Archbishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, 66, from Paraíba has been accused of a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old male. The archbishop was also under investigation by a local prosecutor for alleged “connivance” in the sexual exploitation of Read more
Traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson plans to ordain another bishop without permission from Rome. Bishop Williamson, who was dismissed from the Society of St Pius X in 2012, told followers the ordination will happen in Brazil on March 19. Last year, he presided at the ordination of a bishop, also in Brazil. Bishop Williamson said the Read more
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Paulo Sérgio Machado, who was involved in an alleged drink-driving incident. Bishop Machado was the ordinary of São Carlos, a city of 220,000 in south-eastern Brazil. In September, the bishop was stopped by police after he exhibited signs of intoxication while driving and almost hit a Read more
A Brazilian bishop has clamped down on chatter during the Sign of Peace at Mass. Bishop Milton Kenan Junior of Barretos issued a decree on the distribution of Communion, the exchange of peace and norms for extraordinary ministers. The bishop stated that during the exchange of peace, the faithful should avoid moving around too much. Read more
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian archbishop in a move reminiscent of the demise of Germany’s Bishop of Bling. The resignation of Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri, 63, of Passo Fundo, Brazil, came after a Vatican-ordered apostolic visitation of his archdiocese. The investigation was conducted by Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes. According to a Read more
A Brazilian man executed by firing squad in Indonesia was denied the chance to have Catholic last rites before his death. Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, was executed on January 18 at on Nusakambangan, Indonesia’s execution island Moreira was sentenced to death in 2004 after attempting to smuggle 13.4 kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia. The Read more
The largest Roman Catholic geographical district in Brazil, located deep in the Amazon along the Xingu River, has more than 800 Catholic congregations but only 27 priests. Bishop Erwin Krautler, prelate of Xingu (pronounced Shin-goo), has argued that the situation calls for drastic measures. In April, he took his case to the Vatican, where he Read more