Priests in Syria are choosing to stay with their people despite the death of a monk who was killed by Islamist rebels involved in the country’s civil war. Father Francois Mourad died at the Franciscan monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua, near the Turkish border, while trying to defend nuns and local Christians who had Read more
The Vatican plans an apostolic visitation of the Church in Scotland, to probe charges of widespread corruption, according to The Scotsman newspaper. Though no word has come from the Vatican, the newspaper said a priest who accused the resigned Cardinal Keith O’Brien of homosexual conduct was told there would be an investigation in a meeting Read more
Former United States president Jimmy Carter has accused the Catholic Church of abusive discrimination against women by having an all-male priesthood. In a Time magazine interview, Carter said “the major religions have discriminated against women in a very abusive fashion and set an example for the rest of society to treat women as secondary citizens”. Read more
The Catholic Church has had little trouble finding its way onto the front pages of Australian newspapers in recent weeks and months, though it’s usually been — not unlike many other Western countries — to report on something related to the sexual abuse of minors. With two state inquiries and a national Royal Commission all Read more
After years of moving in a more socially liberal direction along with the rest of western Europe, the Spanish government is now doing an about face, seeking to restrict abortion and return the Catholic Church to a prominent role in the country’s school system. Though the Church is still losing ground among the faithful, it Read more
The president of the “bank” of the Holy See, in this interview with Vatican Radio, opens his campaign to restore credibility to the controversial institution. With more integrity, more transparency, more communication Q: President Ernst von Freyberg, do you like your job, coming from Frankfurt down to Rome, working inside the Vatican? A: It is Read more
First of all, I would like to congratulate Pope Francis I on his election, becoming the first South American to head the Vatican. Although the Church has been having some serious trouble over the last decade with numerous scandals and harsh although often warranted criticism, I feel his election is an appropriate step in the Read more
Scotland is a hostile place for Catholics, according to the spokesman for the Catholic Church there, Peter Kearney. “Priests have bricks thrown through their bedroom windows,” he said. “The number of crimes motivated by anti-Catholic intolerance has gone up every year since the 2003 Criminal Justice Act was created. Things are not getting better.” Continue Read more
In June 1973 Juan Perón, the 77-year-old former Argentinian president, came home to Buenos Aires from exile in Franco’s Spain after an absence of 18 years. That same year Father Jorge Bergoglio of the Society of Jesus became the head of Argentina’s Jesuits at the age of 36. One day he would become pope. Perón Read more
Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse in Victoria, Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne has said the Catholic Church could do better to protect whistleblowers raising concerns about paedophile behaviour at its institutions. He said the Church was working to improve its processes to help whistleblowers. “I always think there’s room for Read more