Posts Tagged ‘Canon Law’

Vatican to define and penalise ‘spiritual abuse’

Thursday, November 28th, 2024
Spiritual abuse

The Vatican is working to define and potentially criminalise ‘spiritual abuse’ and ‘false mysticism’, aiming to treat them as standalone offences under Canon Law. This move follows high-profile cases where spirituality was misused to justify abusive behaviour. With Pope Francis’s approval, a working group has been established to study the issue and propose concrete legal Read more

Canon Law experts equip delegates to tackle evolving Church

Thursday, September 19th, 2024

More than 95 delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America gathered in Brisbane this month for the 57th Annual Canon Law Conference where they discussed key challenges and developments in canon law. Hosted by the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand, the four-day event aimed to equip attendees with tools to Read more

Synod on Synodality – Fifteen hidden gems

Monday, November 13th, 2023
synod

At the Synod on Synodality, the Western media focused on a limited number of hot-button issues — women’s ordination, married priests and blessing of gay couples. But hidden in the synod participants’ 40-page synthesis are some surprising gems that could lead to significant reform in the church. The hidden gems The first is a new Read more

Cardinal denies involvement in papal election reform, reports “a pure lie”

Thursday, November 9th, 2023
papal election

Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a prominent figure in Church law, has vehemently denied any role in the reported changes to the papal election process, According to The Pillar and The Remnant websites Cardinal Ghirlanda (pictured), an important advisor to Pope Francis, had been tasked by the pope with drafting revisions to the conclave. Ghirlanda called the Read more

Bishops set up new National Tribunal Service

Thursday, November 9th, 2023

A National Tribunal Service has been established to ensure that Canon or church law is applied consistently and impartially throughout the Church in England and Wales. It will be based in the Bishops’ Conference headquarters in London and have one of two penal tribunals in Liverpool. At a Mass on Saturday, November 4, Cardinal Vincent Read more

International Canon Law meeting hosted in Christchurch

Thursday, September 21st, 2023
Canon Law

Eighty canon lawyers and lay delegates met in Christchurch from 4 to 7 September for the 56th annual Canon Law Society of Australia and NZ conference. Annual Conference assist canonists in their ministry by providing continuous professional development. People working in the Canon Law field came from Oceania, Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, the US Read more

Bishop Strickland says he will not resign if pope asks. What comes next?

Thursday, September 21st, 2023

Firebrand Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, who has been subject to a Vatican investigation over his leadership style and right-wing comments on social media, has recently vowed not to resign or “voluntarily abandon” his diocese, even if Pope Francis asks him to do so. But the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law leaves Strickland little to Read more

Theology and the machine

Thursday, July 27th, 2023
AI

As AI proponents aim to make inroads for language learning models in communities around the world, developers this month announced an AI project they say could be a “game changer for the Church.” The developers of Magisterium AI trained an AI robot on a database of 456 Church documents. These include: Scripture the Catechism of Read more

Vatican prayer service follows naked man’s desecration of St Peter’s altar

Thursday, June 8th, 2023

A prayer service in the form of a purification rite was performed at St. Peter’s Basilica after a man desecrated the main altar. Startled witnesses, on Friday, New Zealand time, say the man stripped off his clothes, leapt onto the high altar in the centre of the church, and stood naked apart from his shoes Read more

Pope Francis accepts Cardinal John Dew’s resignation

Monday, May 8th, 2023
resignation

The Vatican, Friday, announced Cardinal John Dew’s resignation as Archbishop of Wellington last Friday. Dew (pictured right) explains “Canon law requires that bishops offer their resignation to the Holy Father when they reach 75 years of age, and yesterday I reached that age.” Pope Francis has accepted his resignation. “It is with sadness that I Read more