Posts Tagged ‘Priests’

Aussie Sex Party releases offensive anti-Catholic ad

Tuesday, June 28th, 2016

The Australian Sex party has taken aim at the Catholic Church in an election ad it says may offend some viewers. The ad, released on Youtube on Friday, shows a flamboyant dancing priest leading a congregation in a sing along. The ad accuses the Catholic Church with its “sleazy priests” of “making the world less Read more

Animal priests won’t baptise single mums’ kids: Pope

Tuesday, June 21st, 2016

Pope Francis has described priests who refuse to baptise the children of young single mothers as “animals”. Francis was speaking at a Q&A session near the end of a pastoral conference of Rome diocese on the family. Crux reported that Francis spoke of a “pastoral cruelty” at the Q&A. An example is priests who refuse Read more

Pope discourages priests from seeing people as ‘cases’

Tuesday, June 7th, 2016

Pope Francis has exhorted priests not to see people who approach them for spiritual help merely as “cases” to be handled. In a series of reflections for priests who had come to Rome as part of the Year of Mercy celebrations, the Pope said: “Mercy gets its hands dirty.” Francis said he had heard many Read more

Concerns about mental and physical welfare of Irish priests

Friday, May 27th, 2016

Serious concerns have been expressed about well-being of priests in Ireland, in the light of what is being called “huge mental and physical pressure”. The concerns were aired at a meeting between several Irish bishops and representatives of the Association of Catholic Priests, the Irish Times reported. The ACP said it was “becoming more and Read more

Historic Irish synod backs lay-led liturgies

Friday, April 15th, 2016

A proposal to develop and support lay-led liturgies has received strong support at the first synod to be held in Ireland in half a century. A three-day diocesan synod in Limerick was attended by 400 delegates. More than 90 per cent of delegates backed the lay-led liturgies proposal. At the synod, Fr Eugene Duffy, a lecturer Read more

Priests should be judged as individuals first

Friday, March 4th, 2016

The Catholic church is an easy target.  A socially conservative agenda stands in broad opposition to mainstream thought in liberal Western democracies. The church’s stance on homosexuality, contraception, abortion, transgender issues, the ordination of women and euthanasia is no longer that of the majority. Its history is full of examples of failing to live up Read more

Layman wears a soutane to see what happens

Friday, February 19th, 2016

Esquire Magazine published an article titled “What Happened When I Dressed Like a Priest: An investigation into the power of the uniform.” The author decided to do an experiment to test the power of various uniforms. He bought four: the uniforms for looking like a Catholic priest, security guard, mechanic, and doctor. When he wore Read more

Some priests turn down chance to be bishop

Friday, February 5th, 2016

It is no longer “exceptional” that some priests turn down an appointment as bishop, says the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Cardinal Marc Ouellet told the Catholic News Service that this does happen nowadays, but the number of priests who do so is not high. Priests decline an appointment as bishop, which is offered Read more

South Korea to send priests to North Korea

Friday, December 11th, 2015

South Korea’s Catholic Church has announced it has agreed with North Korea to send priests to the isolated communist state “on a regular basis”. This should see priests leading services in Pyongyang on major holy days from next year. The move followed a visit to the North Korean capital by South Korean bishops last week. Read more

Priests charged with murder of seminary rector

Tuesday, December 8th, 2015

Four more priests have been charged with the murder of a seminary rector in India in 2013. Ten people, including six priests, have now been accused of being involved in the death of Fr K.J. Thomas. His body was found inside St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore. Police have filed charges in a Bangalore court. Read more