The Vatican is working to define and potentially criminalise ‘spiritual abuse’ and ‘false mysticism’, aiming to treat them as standalone offences under Canon Law. This move follows high-profile cases where spirituality was misused to justify abusive behaviour. With Pope Francis’s approval, a working group has been established to study the issue and propose concrete legal Read more
Dr Mary McAleese has criticised the final document of the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality, saying there is “nothing” in it that could not have been written “in a half day” by Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “before the synodal circus started”. In a statement expressing frustration at the 52-page report which was Read more
A moral theologian whose views are at odds with Church teaching on the use of contraception in marriage has been appointed as one of 28 new consultors to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. CNA reports that Pope Francis has appointed Fr Maurizio Chiodi to the DDF. Chiodi is known for his view Read more
The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has given the go-ahead for the Spanish pilgrimage site of Chandavila and the veneration of Our Lady there. On Thursday, the dicastery published a letter from Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Faith, to the Archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, José Rodríguez Carballo, in which he confirms Read more
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston has called for the removal from Vatican offices of artwork by Fr Marko Rupnik, a priest accused of sexually abusing dozens of adult women. O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), urged Vatican offices to exercise pastoral prudence and avoid displaying Rupnik’s art, which could Read more
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has formally charged Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó with schism. This could lead to his excommunication and removal from the clerical state. On 20th May, senior officers of the Vatican’s Dicastery opened an extrajudicial penal trial against Viganó. The decree states that this process was deemed appropriate Read more
Five new complaints of alleged abuse committed by Father Marko Rupnik have been presented to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, where an investigation into the case is being carried out after Pope Francis decided to lift the statute of limitations. The new cases mark the latest development in the case Read more
The Church’s strong anti-abuse protocols are enshrined in law says Jesuit priest Hans Zollner, but they are not being universally applied. “More broadly, the norms adopted by Rome indicate the right direction, but we currently have no mechanism to monitor their implementation.” Zollner, director of the Institute of Anthropology at Rome’s Gregorian University, believes the Read more
The Vatican has narrowed the definition of cases directly overseen by its main doctrinal office, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. On January 30, the dicastery announced that it would specifically investigate and judge cases involving individuals “who habitually have an imperfect use of reason.” This announcement delineates the jurisdiction of the doctrinal Read more
The Vatican has affirmed that transgender individuals are eligible to participate as godparents and witnesses in Roman Catholic sacraments of baptism and marriage, and they can be baptised. The Vatican’s document, signed by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, was published on the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith website on Read more