The Vatican has updated its process for evaluating alleged visions of supernatural phenomena. As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, claims of weeping and bleeding statues, mystical visions and stigmata are officially just claims until proven otherwise. Furthermore – the faithful are never obliged to believe in these particular events, says head of the Read more
Pope Francis said in a CBS 60 Minutes news interview that his conservative critics have a “suicidal attitude”. It is one thing “to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another to be closed up inside a dogmatic box” Francis said. He was responding to a probe into his thoughts Read more
Dear Brother Priests, The International Meeting “Parish Priests for the Synod”, and the dialogue with all of you who have taken part, provide me with the opportunity to pray for the parish priests the world over. To all of you, I address these words with great affection. It is so obvious as to sound almost Read more
Grassroots synodality needs priests to inform it. Pope Francis knows this. He wants more synodality in the universal church. He wants clericalism replaced with pastoral care and equality, a katholisch.de article says. That has led the Pope to rethink his ways too. Francis has decided not to admonish or exhort priests any more. Those aren’t Read more
Germany — a nation whose history is entangled with the Catholic Church — has become a “mission country” its Bishops’ Conference says. Conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing says under half of Germany’s citizens still belong to Christian denominations. Evangelisation in Germany has been a central theme since the time of Pope St John Paul II Read more
In a recent address to members of the International Network for Societies for Catholic Theology (INSeCT), Pope Francis stressed the necessity for theologians to engage with the contemporary world and the importance of a ‘theology of love’ and wisdom. In his prepared text, Pope Francis told group members that theology is “a significant and necessary Read more
Preparations for next year’s Jubilee in Rome are frantically gearing for a humungous rush to finish in time. The once-every-quarter-century event is likely to bring about 32 million pilgrims to Rome Last Thursday at St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis presided over a ceremony where the papal bull, or official edict, for the Jubilee was read. Read more
Nick Wilson and Jessica Jackman will represent New Zealand young people at the prestigious International Youth Ministry Congress. The Congress takes place from May 22 to 26 in Rome near Vatican City. A global event, the Youth Ministry Congress will focus on innovative leadership styles and strategies in youth ministry under the theme “Synodal Youth Read more
Whoopi Goldberg is in the process of working on Sister Act 3 — and she has high hopes that a special guest star will make an appearance in the movie. During an appearance on the Tonight Show on May 8, the Oscar-winning actress, 68, opened up about the moment she met Pope Francis at the Read more
Today I would like to talk about the virtue of faith. Together with charity and hope, this virtue is described as theologal. The theologal virtues There are three theologal virtues: faith, hope and charity. Why are they theologal? Because they can be lived – this virtue, the three theologal virtues – only thanks to the Read more