The postponement of Pope Francis’s visit to Milan next year has sparked speculation that the Pontiff is avoiding meeting Cardinal Angelo Scola. The Vatican press office announced that the papal pastoral visits to Milan and other Italian dioceses next year were postponed. The reason cited is the demands on the Pope’s schedule during the jubilee Read more
The Melanesian Way could aptly be summed up as a democracy says Phil Fitzpatrick. He points out that there are various definitions of democracy, “but the Oxford English Dictionary probably sums it up accurately saying it is ‘a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity… are involved in making Read more
An anti-establishment Spanish nun, who is also a Harvard-educated doctor in public health, is moving into the world of politics. Sr Teresa Forcades, from the Benedictine monastery of Monserrat near Barcelona, is running in the next Catalan election in September. The vote has been dubbed a de facto referendum on independence from Spain. Sr Teresa Read more
The Vatican’s Secretary of State has warned there are no political barriers behind which people can hide from environmental and social degradation. Cardinal Pietro Parolin sent a message to a conference on “The New Climate Economy” in Rome. “When the future of the planet is at stake, there are no political frontiers, barriers or walls Read more
Is the Pope a conservative? After the papal zingers which landed in Strasbourg last week, some — Nigel Farage, writing in the Catholic Herald, for instance — seem to think so. Europe was ‘now a grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant’, Pope Francis told a startled European Parliament, before saying that, to reconnect with ordinary Read more
Solomon Islands National Council of Women says 27 aspiring women politicians are intending to contest the National Elections later this year. The Council’s Women in Leadership Officer, Casper Faasala, says all of the intending candidates have gone through leadership training and will receive mentoring in the build up to the elections. Solomon Islands is one Read more
The public discomfort around the current dirty politics revelations is a good sign for our political community, says John Dew, the Catholic Archbishop of Wellington New Zealand. He was speaking in the wake of disclosures made in a recently published book, Dirty Politics which is based on information contained in emails obtained by hacking the computer of Read more
The Anglican Archbishops in Aotearoa New Zealand have identified four key challenges facing the country in the run-up to the General Election on September 20. These issues are: Child poverty Income inequality Lack of affordable and accessible housing Global warming Calling on all Anglicans to exercise their right to vote in the election, Archbishops Winston Read more
A group of Muslims in Fiji are asking politicians not to use religion to gain support before the nation’s General Election on September 17. Spokesman Mohammed Sareem said the group had formed because a former government minister overseas has been accusing Muslims of being part of the 2006 coup. “We urge politicians to keep religion Read more