Some German Synodal Path suggestions for change won’t be happening, says the Vatican. Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has written an official note to the German Bishops’ Conference secretary general, Beate Gilles to clarify the Vatican’s stance on the German Synodal Path reform proposals. Non-negotiable issues Some issues are “non-negotiable”, Parolin told Gilles, Read more
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, strongly denounced the recent Hamas attack on Israel, labelling it as “inhuman”. “The release of Israeli hostages and the protection of innocent lives in Gaza are at the heart of the problem created by Hamas’ attack and the response of the Israeli army,” said Parolin. “They are Read more
The conflict in Gaza cast a shadow on Monday over a major conference on the Vatican and the Holocaust, with one participant calling the carnage the worst slaughter of civilian Jews in one day since then. The conference was organised after the opening in 2020 of Vatican archives of the pontificate of Pius XII, which Read more
Vietnam formally agreed on Thursday to let a Vatican representative live in the country and open an office, a notching up of relations that could have implications down the line for the Holy See’s delicate ties with China. The Holy See announced the conclusion of the agreement during a visit to the Vatican by Vietnamese Read more
The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has unequivocally rejected the assertion that clergy sexual abuse is connected to homosexuality, deeming it an “unsupportable association” without any scientific basis. “Homosexual orientation cannot be considered as either cause or aspect typical of the abuser, even more so when it is decoupled from the general arrangement Read more
The German bishops can expect a discussion with the Vatican over their vote in favour to bless same-sex unions. The move, made by the influential and wealthy German Church, does not align with official Catholic doctrine, which forbids such blessings. “A local, particular church cannot make a decision like that which involves the discipline of Read more
Pope Francis says he is deeply saddened to learn of the huge loss of life caused by a powerful earthquake that has struck south-eastern Turkey and north-western Syria. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked wide swaths of the neighbouring countries early Monday morning, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing thousands of people. Hundreds are still believed Read more
Pope Francis has warned the leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church that he “cannot become Putin’s altar boy.” In a recent media interview Francis says Patriarch Kirill’s support of the war in Ukraine became clear to him during their 40-minute zoom discussion in March. In this, Kirill spent half the time reading out justifications for President Read more
People’s real battles should be spent on fighting poverty, hunger, disease, thirst and slavery, Pope Francis says. They should be spending money on those battles, not on fighting each other, nation against nation. Yet vast sums are spent on armaments for waging war. This is “a scandal” that just drags civilisation backward, Francis told a Read more