Cardinal George Pell says when it comes to October’s Synod of Bishops on the Family, “the synod will massively endorse the tradition” of the Church’s teachings on marriage. He believes synod delegates “will recognize that the Christian tradition of St. John Paul the Great, Benedict, the Council of Trent, is well established … and I Read more
The Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations is pushing for the nation’s minimum wage to be increased by A$28.70 a week. The Catholic council lodged a claim in Australia’s Fair Work Commission that the national minimum wage be set at A$669.60 a week. The council’s proposed increase is more than double the amount major employer Read more
German Catholics have criticised Vatican questions ahead of the synod on the family as proceeding from an idealised image of the family. This was the main criticism in a summary of replies of German Catholics to the 46 questions of the second Vatican questionnaire on the family. Germany’s Catholic bishops released the summary of responses, Read more
We have forgotten just how deep a cultural revolution Christianity wrought. In fact, we forget about it precisely because of how deep it was: There are many ideas that we simply take for granted as natural and obvious, when in fact they didn’t exist until the arrival of Christianity changed things completely. Take, for instance, Read more
Pope Francis is widely believed to be a cool Pope—a huggable, Upworthyish, meme-ready, self-deprecating leader for a new generation of worshippers. “He has described himself as a sinner,” writes Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Pope Francis’ entry on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world, “and his nonjudgmental views on … issues such Read more
Nearly 500 priests in England and Wales have signed a letter calling on the synod on the family to uphold the Church’s “unchanging” moral teaching. The letter also calls on the synod, to be held in October, to resist any moves to allow Communion for the divorced and remarried. A draft text of the letter Read more
Cardinal Walter Kasper hopes this year’s synod on the family will develop the Church’s tradition in the area of pastoral support of divorced people. Cardinal Kasper was speaking at the England launch of his book “Pope Francis’s Revolution of Tenderness and Love”. Bishops attending the synod, scheduled for October 4-25, will be called to discern Read more
What makes for a happy home? Is it having plentiful sofas, nice neighbours, or perhaps super-fast Wi-Fi? Believe it or not, they all make the list according to a recent study cited on the Be Home Blog. As well as some (perhaps more surprising?) factors which would seem to make for less family time, but Read more
The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has said he will take a message on integrity and unity to the synod on the family. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz is one of four US prelates who will attend the synod in October. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, he was asked what Read more
Priests in England and Wales are being urged to sign a letter calling on the family synod to resist any move to allow Communion for the civilly remarried. The letter also calls on the synod to proclaim the Church’s “unchanging” moral teaching. The initiative comes from a group of dozen priests, dubbed by The Tablet Read more