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A lot has been written about Pope Francis’s goal of making the church more democratic, with less control by the Vatican and more power to individual bishops. In an ideal world, not only would the Vatican have less say in choosing bishops, but priests and laity would have a larger role in the selection of Read more
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Immensely significant celebrations marking 50 years since an Anglican Centre was founded in Rome to “promote Christian unity in a divided world” will take place in Rome next week. A week-long summit which the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Pope Francis will attend in Rome will climax with a service in the monastery from which Read more
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Catholic Bishops in the US support the Comprehensive [Nuclear Weapons] Test Ban Treaty. Their stance echoes Vatican statements about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and Pope Francis’s concerns. The U.S. bishops’ conference “welcomes the action of the U.N. Security Council …,” Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M. said. He says the Conference encourages “this important Read more
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“Teach your children that it is not possible to be Christian outside the Church, and it is not possible to follow Christ outside the Church, as the Church is our mother, and lets us grow in the love of Jesus Christ” (Pope Francis, 11 January 2015). It must then follow that the Catholic Church is the true Read more
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A newly appointed bishop in England says he believes Pope Francis was right to “rattle the cage” of bishops. Bishop-elect John Arnold of Salford said he believes the Pope has made some bishops rethink their priorities. A former barrister who was auxiliary bishop in Westminster, Bishop Arnold has pledged to follow the Pope’s exhortation to Read more
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Ghislain de Rasilly, the Bishop of Wallis and Futuna was taken to Noumea in New Caledonia on 27 September after suffering from a heart problem. Attempts to remedy the problem in Noumea were unsuccessful. Bishop Ghislain was then flown to Sydney where he is to have further treatment. Bishop Ghislain was ordained Bishop of Wallis Read more
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Pope Francis has sacked a Paraguayan bishop affiliated to Opus Dei in order to try to mend divisions in the Church in that nation. On September 25, Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of Ciudad del Este diocese was removed to preserve the “unity of both the bishops and of the faithful”, according to a Vatican Read more
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Pope Francis has asked new bishops not to be deceived by the temptation to change their people, but to love them as they are. The Pope said this in a written address on September 18 to 138 recently appointed bishops from around the world, including two from Australia. “Though jealously safeguarding the passion for truth, Read more
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The upcoming extraordinary synod of bishops on the family will feature streamlined operations and new rules to help bishops grapple with the issues. That’s what the synod’s general secretary, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, told the Catholic News Service. The extraordinary synod from October 5-19 will be attended by presidents of bishops’ conferences, heads of eastern Catholic Read more
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The Bishops of the Federation of Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania have elected Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby as President of their Conference Federation, and the Vice President is Bishop Robert McGuckin of Toowoomba. There were 82 Bishops from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, the countries of the Pacific, and Australia and New Zealand in Read more
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