Muslims in France are standing with Catholics grieving Paris’s fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral. Their vision of an inter-religious gathering to show their support was realised in Paris last Saturday, when they joined with Catholics and Christians of other religions in song and prayer. The celebration of inter-faith togetherness was organised by Christian movement Efesia as Read more
The Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit has set new pastoral priorities for the coming year that include lay people for the coming year. Aupetit has called for a study into the possibility of housing families and lay people in the buildings of the Paris seminary building. Sharing meals and time for communal prayer, “seminarians will Read more
Members of St Vincent de Paul in Paris are helping migrants by providing practical and spiritual help. Coordinating Catholic aid is Jerome Perrin, president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris. Read more
The Paris prosecutor says four men have been arrested over a failed attack on a suburban Parisian church last year. They were arrested separately on Tuesday. France’s LCI television said they may have provided logistical help to chief suspect Sid Ahmed Ghlam. Read more
Pope Francis has urging the international community to act soon on the agreement reached at the Paris climate change talks. At his Angelus address on Sunday, the Pope congratulated world leaders on reaching the agreement. Implementing the plan, he said, will require “a concerted and generous commitment on the part of each one”. The Pope Read more
Pope Francis sent a pair of papal shoes for an art installation in Paris in support of climate change action ahead of the COP21 meeting. The papal shoes – black Oxfords – joined thousands of other sneakers, slippers and pumps in a symbolic march at the Place de la Republique. The art installation was a Read more
There’s something profoundly rotten about cultures that can give birth to the murderous behaviour on show in Paris last Friday. This is just the latest and probably most visible instance because it happened in one of the hubs of the European and North American news media. These hubs make things that happen in too many other Read more
I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many SOBs in the world. Islamic terrorists, dictators, neo-Nazis and everyday thugs. Perhaps we should put them all on an island and drop a bomb on it. But then that would make us the SOBs. Such is life. I’m being simplistic but the horror of Paris generates simple emotions: Read more
The Vatican’s Secretary of State has supported military intervention to disarm an unjust aggressor in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. Speaking on Sunday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin cited conditions stipulated under Catholic just war doctrine. He said comments Pope Francis made in 2014 that it is “licit” to use force to disarm an unjust Read more
Pope Francis has condemned any religious justification for the terrorist attacks in Paris last week as “blasphemy”. Speaking at his Sunday Angelus address at St Peter’s Square, the Pope expressed his pain at the violence and offered his condolences to France’s president and people. “Such barbarity leaves us bewildered and makes us ask ourselves how Read more