Almost a million euros has been seized from a French congregation. Prosecutors in France have charged the legal body managing the Missionary Workers of the Immaculate congregation with underpaying employees and has ordered 950,000 euros to be seized from its bank accounts. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘France’
Restructuring parishes — a move from necessity to audacity
Monday, August 13th, 2018
Located in the Tarn region of southern France, the Archdiocese of Albi has been divided into 503 parishes since the Middle Ages. Over the Pentecost weekend, however, Archbishop Jean Legrez, (pictured) completely re-organized them into 21 new parishes. It is an impressive change. In coming to this decision, the Archdiocese of Albi has followed a Read more
France’s President receives Catholic honorary title from Pope
Thursday, June 28th, 2018
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has been given an honorary title by Pope Francis. Macron visited the Vatican to accept an inherited title of the “First and Only Honorary Canon” of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. St John Lateran is the pope’s cathedral in his capacity as bishop of Rome. Under a tradition that began Read more
French church groups fight anti-migrant attitudes
Monday, June 18th, 2018The French church has launched a programme to combat anti-migrant and anti-Muslim attitudes. Reports of tensions among Catholics have prompted the programme. “It is to resist the rise of tensions and hostilities within the Christian community that our movements have decided to work” with the French bishops’ conference. The groups say they hope to find Read more
Antisemitism is everyone’s business
Thursday, April 26th, 2018
Antisemitism isn’t the business of Jews, it’s everyone’s business. So says a manifesto denouncing “a new antisemitism marked by Islamist radicalisation.” The manifesto has been signed by over 300 French dignitaries and stars. The manifesto was drafted by Philippe Val, a former editor at Charlie Hebdo, after a number of Jewish murders. It says the Read more
Pope Francis and Syrian Patriarchs react to airstrikes
Monday, April 16th, 2018
Church leaders including Pope Francis and the Syrian Patriarchs are condemning last weekend’s airstrikes by the United States (US), Britain and France. War planes and ships launched over 100 missiles at three chemical weapons storage and research facilities near Damascus and Homs. The airstrikes sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack Read more
Sparks fly: President Emmanuel Macron links church and state
Thursday, April 12th, 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to repair church-state relations. His ambition has caused a furore in France, as he is seen to be tampering with France’s secular tradition. The Church and State have been legally separated since 1905, following a groundswell of change that began with the French Revolution in 1789 and continued during Read more
Slain French gendarme compared to Joan of Arc
Thursday, April 5th, 2018
Arnaud Beltrame, the French gendarme who died saving hostages’ lives at a supermarket siege last week, was given a state funeral in Paris. In tribute to Beltrame, President Emmanuel Macron made reference to Joan of Arc, members of the French resistance and others who had died for the country. Beltrame, who was a devout Catholic, Read more
Trainee priests moving from seminaries to communities
Monday, March 5th, 2018
Trainee priests in France are swapping their boarding school seminary isolation for community-based housing. Many have already relocated from enclosed suburban retreats into city centres. So far seminarians from the dioceses of Lille, Orleans, Nantes, Lyon, Rennes and Paris have relocated. The change in living arrangements responds to Pope Francis’s wish for trainee priests to Read more
French court rules: remove cross on St John Paul’s memorial
Thursday, November 2nd, 2017
A French court ruling over removing the cross above a statue of St Pope John Paul II has sparked a diplomatic row between Poland and France. The Council of State, which is France’s top administrative court, says the cross violates a law passed in 1905. The law bans any “religious sign or emblem” on a Read more