Some 500 activists wanting women’s ordination will gather for a meeting in Philadelphia one week before Pope Francis arrives in the city. The US-based Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is hosting the Women’s Ordination Worldwide meeting from September 18-20. The gathering will assess the place of women in church and society and develop plans to advance Read more
Last weekend, the Archdiocese of Sydney was blessed with two new priests – Fathers Thomas Stevens and Lewi Barakat. Ordinations are always an emotional occasion, but this particular Ordination Mass had a significant impact on me. In the weeks leading up to the Ordination, (then) Deacon Lewi had told me that the Ordination was not Read more
An Australian theologian has suggested 12 criteria for selecting new bishops. University of Canberra chaplain Fr Paul McGavin explained his criteria in a 2000-word article in L’Espresso. He started by stating that ordination does not change a man. “He has access to the authority and grace of Holy Orders. Whether or not these are enacted Read more
A young Italian priest given special permission to be ordained two years before he finished his seminary studies has died of cancer. Fr Salvatore Mellone, 38, from Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie archdiocese, died on June 29, two and a half months after he was ordained. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the young priest was given special Read more
After Bishop Stephen Lowe was ordained as the third Bishop of Hamilton on February 13, he told the people that God does amazing things using simple things. The use of water in Baptism and bread and wine in Communion are examples of this, Bishop Lowe said. “With sinful and weak men, [the Lord’s] priesthood lives Read more
An excommunicated Catholic woman bishop says she has conducted services alongside male Catholic priests without any problems from the Church’s hierarchy. Austrian Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, 58, told The Telegraph: “Most Catholic priests in Austria, are very nice to me. They call me ‘Mrs Bishop’. And they show me respect.” The newspaper reported her having been at Read more
A seminarian in the United States was ordained as a priest in a hospital bed only two days before dying of colon cancer. Fr William Carmona, 51, from Columbia, was ordained by Bishop David Choby of Nashville at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital Northwest in San Antonio, Texas, on September 8. Fr Carmona, who died on Read more
Over 600 people gathered in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Palmerston North New Zealand for the ordination of Danny Karatea-Goddard to the permanent diaconate. Karatea-Goddard is the Bishop of Palmerston North’s Assistant for Māori Apostolate. The ordination took place on 7 June and was attended by people from Wairoa, Ohakune, Te Awa o Read more
This week we celebrate the first anniversary (13 March) of the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. But it is next month that we will witness an event that says more about what to make of him and what to expect in his Pontificate. In April, Pope Francis will beatify on the same day Read more
Last year Pacific Regional Seminary (PRS) in Suva, Fiji celebrating the 40th anniversary its foundation. The jubilee time ran together with the celebration of the Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. The Rector of PRS Fr. Michael O’Connor said 2013 was a year of special blessings. He said one Read more