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
Posts Tagged ‘Priests’
Priests charged with murder of seminary rector
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015Four 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
Worship prefect slams priests on marriage teaching
Tuesday, December 1st, 2015The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship has said he feels wounded at incomprehension by some priests of the Church’s teaching on marriage. Cardinal Robert Sarah told French Catholic magazine “L’Homme Nouveau” he ascribed this to “the insufficiency of the formation of my confreres”. “And insofar as I am responsible for the discipline of Read more
Taking a leap of faith into religious life
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
Young men and women in New Zealand are devoting their lives to the Church. We hear from some of them about their path ahead. Jane Maisey spent her twenties exploring, both physically and spiritually, looking at different religions and ways of being. But it wasn’t until the Christchurch earthquakes that she came back to the Read more
All priests can absolve sin of abortion in Holy Year
Friday, September 4th, 2015
Pope Francis has announced that all priests will have the discretion to absolve the sin of abortion confessed by women during the upcoming Year of Mercy. This power is normally reserved to bishops, who frequently themselves grant priests permission to forgive the sin. Procurement of an abortion incurs an automatic excommunication under Church law. The Read more
Priesthood and Ordination
Friday, August 28th, 2015
Last weekend, the Archdiocese of Sydney was blessed with two new priests – Fathers Thomas Stevens and Lewi Barakat. Ordinations are always an emotional occasion, but this particular Ordination Mass had a significant impact on me. In the weeks leading up to the Ordination, (then) Deacon Lewi had told me that the Ordination was not Read more
Stories about Irish priests refusing invites to be bishops
Friday, August 28th, 2015The papal nuncio to Ireland has said he is unable to confirm or deny stories about Irish priests refusing invitations to become bishops. In a lengthy interview in the Irish Times, Archbishop Charles Brown said this was because “when the Pope asks someone to be a bishop, it’s a very personal invitation”. None of the Read more
Mexican priests get cards to distinguish from scammers
Tuesday, June 16th, 2015Priests in two ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico are being issued with cards to help distinguish them from false priests trying to scam people. The cards will be issued in Tlalnepantla and Mexico ecclesiastical provinces. The phenomenon of “false priests” is on the rise across the nation. The scammers go to hospitals, cemeteries and churches outside Read more
Call to remember priests who died at Dachau
Friday, May 1st, 2015
Poland’s Catholic Church has called for a fitting tribute to hundreds of its priests who died in the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau. Commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau, near Munich, in 1945 run from April 30 to May 3. A spokesman for the Polish bishops, Msgr Józef Kloch, said Dachau Read more
Bishop to priests: Stop the homily abuse
Tuesday, April 28th, 2015A Bishop in the Philippines told his priest to stop abusing the kindness of people by subjecting them to boring, unorganised, unprepared, mumbled homilies. “We have seen many abuses among the clergy – alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse, gambling abuse, money abuse, travelling abuse, vacation abuse. Today, I invite you to turn your hearts Read more