Yet another religious order or congregation leaves our diocese. A much-loved Vatican II-inspired archbishop dies. Our parish priest tells us that relieving priests are more difficult to find. These are all striking moments in church life. Yet the biggest shock has been to learn of the seemingly inevitable decline of the National Council of Priests Read more
A new report indicates that Spain leads the world in terms of the number of Catholic missionaries serving abroad, with almost 10,000 Spanish priests, nuns, and brothers working in Latin America and other corners of the world. It’s also in second place in terms of financial support for missionary activity. Such a commitment is obviously 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
A world meeting of parish priests will later this month prepare for this year’s Synod on Synodality. The priests at the April 29–May 2 Rome-based meeting will reflect on the theme “How to Be a Synodal Local Church in Mission”. The invitation The synod’s General Secretariat has invited several parish priests to attend the second Read more
When several hundred Lutherans in Bavaria, Germany, attended a service on June 9, 2023, designed by ChatGPT, the program not only selected hymns and prayers, but also composed and delivered a sermon, delivered by an avatar on a big screen. Indeed, programs like ChatGPT, that can produce a sermon in seconds, might seem attractive to Read more
Priests are part of the church community; they ‘give savour’ to the community and are not the ‘main course’. The captivating comment that shed light on the role of priests within the Church was made on Saturday, by Monsignor Gerard Burns, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Wellington, during the installation ceremony of Catholic Read more
We’ve just turned the page on the month of June, traditionally in some parts of the world, the time for priestly ordinations in many parts of the Catholic world. According to figures from the national bishops’ conference, the Church in France was ordained 122 new priests this summer – 77 diocesan and 45 from religious Read more
Catholic officials in India are taking legal action against media who seem to be following a rising trend in defaming the Church, particularly priests and nuns. Father Michael Pulickal of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council says the perceived increase in defamatory comments has seen priests and nuns lodge over 160 police complaints. All the complaints Read more
Wealthy foreigners looking for residency status are being courted by New Zealand as prospective immigrants. Stuff reports, a team of five immigration officials – including one in Europe and another in North America –are still promoting “investor interest in New Zealand” so high net-worth investors can enter the country as soon as the borders re-open. Read more