July and August used to be downtime at the Vatican. That changed in 2013 after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected Bishop of Rome. The Argentine Jesuit, now best known as Pope Francis, immediately broke the custom set by his predecessors and did not take a summer holiday. That meant that no one Read more
Reports concerning Pope Francis’s homophobic comment keep hitting headlines. Francis reportedly used a homophobic word when he discussed the question of gay candidates for priesthood with Italy’s bishops on May 20. The official Church position is that they should be barred from ministry if they are sexually active. Francis’s word for “sexually active” was reported Read more
Germany’s Catholic bishops have assured the Vatican that their “Synodal Path” won’t lead to a schism; however, they vowed to proceed with reforms. Summarising the German position, the head of the German bishops’ conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said the German church would not make decisions that were the Vatican’s to make. “We are Catholic,” Bätzing Read more
Catholic women in Germany increased their demand for more sway in the Church, as a new leader of the Catholic Church in Germany was being elected this week. Women’s rights advocates presented the German Bishops Conference with a petition with over 130,000 signatures calling for more women in leadership roles. Dozens of women also gathered Read more