At the end of Mass in North Park Bresso, Mgr Erminio De Scaizi announced Pope Benedict XVI is to sent €500,000 to areas hit by the Italian earthquake, Vatican Insider reports. The money is to be given to the bishops of Mantua, Moderna, Ferrara, Carpi and Bologna to assist families.
Posts Tagged ‘Italy’
Catholics in Italy told ashes of dead cannot be scattered
Friday, April 27th, 2012The Catholic Church in Italy has issued new guidelines that rule out scattering the cremated remains of a person or the keeping them in an urn at home. ‘Cremation is considered as concluded when the urn is deposited in the cemetery,’ says the appendix to the new edition of Funeral Rites issued by Italian Episcopal Read more
Italy: new Caritas centre opens in town recovering from earthquake
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012Caritas Italy is launching a new community centre tomorrow, in an area devastated by a powerful earthquake in 2009. The disaster killed 309 people. Many more were injured and hundreds lost their homes. Continue reading
Man leaves NZ$2.7 billion donation to Catholic Church
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012A producer of electronic gates has left assets worth 1.7 billion euros (NZ$2.7 billion) to the Catholic Church in Italy.
The donation in the Italian man’s will includes a majority stake in his company, news reports said yesterday.
“We will continue the work of our benefactor in the interests of FAAC and its employees,” Andrea Moschetti, the lawyer appointed by the Church to manage its assets, was quoted as saying by business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
Moschetti also ruled out selling the Roman Catholic Church’s stake to a group of French minority shareholders who hold 34 per cent of the company.
Read the article...Italian Churches to pay tax again
Monday, February 20th, 2012
The Italian government has told the European Commission it will change Italian law to ensure the Church pays property tax on parts of buildings used for commercial purposes. It will mean the likes of convents that offer bed and breakfast, or church buildings that rent space to shops, pay their full share of taxes. Prime Read more
Italy’s Catholic Church open to paying property tax
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Italy’s Catholic Church has shifted its view and is showing a willingness to revisit its tax-exempt status on property. Criticism of the Church has grown following Premier Mario Monti’s proposal to restore a property tax on first and second homes as part of sweeping austerity measures. Ordinary Italians are being asked to make sacrifices and Read more
Sant’Egidio founder tapped for Italian Government post
Friday, November 18th, 2011The founder of the Catholic lay Community of Sant’Egidio has been selected to form a part of Italy’s new government.
Andrea Riccardi was asked today to be the Minister for International Cooperation and Integration Policies in new Prime Minister Mario Monti’s administration.
Riccardi said he accepted Monti’s summons with the hope of “help[ing] in the process of national recovery.”
He said he believes that Italy needs unity.
“The commitment for social cohesion, national integration and international cooperation are part of my culture and experience acquired over the years,” Riccardi noted. “I am convinced they are crucial elements for a country to regain its strength and come through the crisis.”
Read the article...Italian bishops attack government over scandals
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Italy’s powerful Catholic Church issued a blistering attack on the ruling political class on Monday, saying the country needed to “purify the air” caused by sex and corruption scandals that have given it a bad name around the world. A speech by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco to fellow bishops stopped just short of asking for the Read more
Shots fired at car of Mafia-fighting priest in Italy
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011A southern Italian priest who is outspoken against the Mafia said gunshots fired at his car were likely meant to show him and the public that members of organised crime are still in charge of the area.
“I think it was just a serious warning,” Father Giuseppe Campisano, the pastor of St. Rocco Parish in Gioiosa Ionica, told Vatican Radio.
Read the article...Vatican banker: Higher taxes won’t solve economic crisis
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
The president of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Tedeschi, recommends avoiding ‘deceptive simplifications’ when trying to find solutions to the world’s economic crisis. The Vatican banker warns that higher taxes are not a solution to the current economic crisis and that higher taxes merely create a higher level of public spending. Rather, he said, ‘authentic global solutions’ Read more