A proposal by the Boy Scouts of America to reverse its ban on openly gay members is causing a dilemma for the Christian churches that sponsor almost 70 per cent of its troops. Of the 100,000 Scout units across the nation, 37,882 are Mormon, 11,078 are Methodist and 8570 are Catholic. And the organisation still Read more
Pope Francis I’s weekend announcement of a new council, the Group of Eight (G8), to advise him on Catholic Church governance and reforming the Church’s central administration (the Roman Curia) has been called the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries” by Church historian Alberto Melloni. The group includes Australian Read more
The first name released of those killed in the April 15 explosions at the Boston Marathon was that of 8-year-old Martin Richard, whose picture in newspapers showed him grinning broadly, apparently at his first Communion in May last year. The young Catholic boy, one of three people killed when a bomb exploded near the finish Read more
In a bid to educate the public about the promises offered by adult stem-cell therapies, the Catholic Church has brought together scientists, politicians, Church leaders, students and journalists at a conference in the Vatican. The Church is promoting adult stem-cell research as ethical and scientifically more promising than embryonic stem-cell research, which requires the destruction Read more
Within the first few weeks of his papacy, Pope Francis won widespread praise for his emphasis on “a poor church” that is “for the poor.” His warm and casual disposition, personal simplicity and tender outreach to “the poorest, the weakest, the least important,” as he expressed it in the homily at his inauguration Mass, may Read more
Brother Dennis of the Little Brothers of Mary, as they were originally known, was buried at a cemetery near Melbourne in March, 1992. His two families — the one he grew up with, and the clergy that he made his adult life with — were both present, and separate. The coffin lowered, the mourners were Read more
The revolution in communications media presents a wonderful opportunity that the Church has been slow to grasp. Until the 1990s, access to the general population through the media was controlled by the gatekeepers of newspapers, radio and television. Now this barrier has been bypassed by the new media — Internet-based, available to everyone, faster and cheaper Read more
They are all in their 80s now — these former POWs during the Korean War. One recalls in rapid-fire bursts how Father Emil Kapaun sneaked out of the barracks at night, risking his life to bring back morsels of food for his fellow prisoners. Another remembers seeing the young American priest use a rock and Read more
In Rome, one of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s first acts as Pope Francis was to call his newsdealer back home in Buenos Aires and cancel his daily delivery. In New York, the Rev. Matt Malone seemed reasonably confident that a similar papal ax would not fall on America, the venerable Jesuit weekly that he edits. “I know for a Read more
I read … “I am amazed how often I meet people who ‘once were Catholics’. You never ask why they left the church. There will be umpteen reasons why just as there are umpteen people. But millions have remained true to their Catholic faith.” Merepeka Raukawa-Tait in The Daily Post, March 19, 2013 I wondered Read more