Dublin’s archbishop is worried that some Catholics are retreating from dialogue with the present into the false security of imaginary better times. In a speech, Archbishop Dairmuid Martin said while the Church in Ireland would never be what it was 20 or even 10 years ago, things were improving. “But the moment I say that Read more
Cardinal George Pell has warned lay people against fleeing from the world and becoming preoccupied with church services and tasks of the priesthood. Speaking in Ireland, the cardinal said the so-called culture wars “are entering a new phase of political struggle which can only be fought by laypeople”. He urged young people to get involved Read more
Germany’s main lay Catholic organisation has called for a raft of new pastoral practices concerning marriage and sexuality. The Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken (Central Committee of the German Catholics) called for the admittance of civilly remarried divorcees to Communion, acceptance of all forms of cohabitation, the blessing of same-sex couples and the reconsideration of the Church’s teaching Read more
The new Primate of All Ireland wants to see a humble renewal of the Irish Church led from the bottom up by the laity. Archbishop Eamon Martin became Archbishop of Armagh and Ireland’s primate following Pope Francis’s acceptance of the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady, who had turned 75. According to The Tablet, during an Read more
The practice of lay people giving the homily at Mass is coming to an end in a United States diocese, where it had been happening for 40 years. Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester diocese in New York state is drafting guidelines to clarify that homilies at Mass are reserved for the ordained. Bishop Matano said he is trying Read more
As I was glancing at my Washington Post on Friday morning, I was dumbfounded by this headline: “Gay patient says Catholic chaplain refused him last rites.” The story focuses on Ronald Plishka, who was admitted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center after a heart attack and asked for a priest when — after 24 hours — Read more
The chairman of the Council of Cardinals, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga is suggesting a “Congregation for the Laity” with a “Pontifical Council for the Family” headed by married couple. According to La Stampa, the Cardinal stressed among other things that the Church definitely needs a Congregation for the Laity. “We have a Congregation for Read more
Aucklander Kirsten Sloan is a volunteer on mission with Fr Frank Bird and others at the Marist Family Mission in Ranong, Thailand, where she manages the HIV/AIDS Health Project. The mission has been serving Burmese migrants for the past 6 years providing community support, education for Burmese children and support and health access for HIV/AIDs sufferers Read more
Cardinal Francis Arinze grew up in Nigeria, and in 1965 became the youngest bishop in the world at the age of 32. He was the first African cardinal to head a Vatican office and served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008. He is the Read more
Urging the hierarchy to be more pastoral than administrative, Pope Francis has said bishops should ask whether they and their priests are serving “the People of God as a whole” rather than “the Church as an organisation”. The Pope was speaking in Rio de Janeiro to the co-ordinating committee of the Latin American Bishops’ Council Read more