A senior Italian bishop says the Church should listen to arguments for gay relationships, Communion for divorcees and ending mandatory celibacy for priests. Bishop Nunzio Galantino, who is secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference (CEI), said he wants Church leaders to open their minds on these issues. “My wish for the Italian Church is that Read more
A papyrus dubbed “the Gospel of Jesus’ wife” appears to have been of ancient origin, testing has revealed. Harvard University biblical scholar Karen King, who first revealed the papyrus, hopes questions over whether it is a modern fake will now fade. It consists of just eight lines and 33 words of an interrupted conversation, which Read more
A Church official has been quoted by reports as saying that celibacy for priests in the Catholic Church is open for discussion. In an interview with a Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, new Secretary of State for the Vatican, said “celibacy is not an institution but look, it is also true that you Read more
WASHINGTON – You wanted Father Andrew Greeley as your friend and not your enemy. You got the sense he was born with his fists up and his loyalties fully formed. He was ready to do battle at the first signs of disrespect toward those he cared about. Understanding Greeley, the priest, sociologist and novelist who Read more
Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny has said he would like to ordain married men to enrich the pastoral service the Church can offer. However he said he supported celibacy as a prophetic sign “especially in a consumer society like ours, where sexuality is sometimes trivialised”. Bishop Bonny said he thought most other Belgian bishops would also Read more
An 81-year-old Dutch Catholic priest, who lives with his 85-year-old girlfriend, says he will take his expulsion from priesthood to the European Court of Human Rights. As reported in CathNews, Jan Peijnenburg, who has lived with his girlfriend for 46 years, was told he either had to separate from his girlfriend or leave the Catholic Read more
The Dutch Catholic Church has ordered an 81 year old priest to leave his partner of 46 years or be forced to quit the priesthood. The Den Bosch diocese in the central Netherlands said Jan Peijnenburg’s relationship with Threes van Dijck (85) was unacceptable to other priests. “We are giving him the choice: either he leaves Read more
In an interview with Anthony Gaspari of Zenit the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza touches on all the issues that will certainly emerge during the Papal visit to Germany. He comments on women’s ordination, the influence of the Vatican, ecumenism, celibacy and vocations. Is the ordination of women to be considered Read more
Retired Irish Catholic bishop, Edward Daly has added his voice calling for the end of the church’s celibacy requirement for priests. “Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, major decisions must be made,” Daly writes in his new book A Troubled See, Memoirs of a Derry Bishop. Daly, who as a priest, and waving just a Read more
A year after a widespread sex scandal rocked Roman Catholics in Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland, German intellectuals and faithful alike are turning their backs on the church, calling for change or simply leaving the congregation. German theologians and others have aired their discontent in a series of petitions to church leaders calling for changes including Read more