When he pulls back from the table, it is wet from his tears. It isn’t like he is sobbing. The tears just fall silently. Salvo, the name of this 30-something man who signed up for confession at the prison where I serve as a chaplain, kept on speaking. I wasn’t sure whether he was talking Read more
Representatives of Canada’s Indigenous communities were in Rome last week for a series of meetings with Pope Francis. The purpose of their visit was to urge Francis to publicly apologize for the abuse that their ancestors – and even some of them – suffered at residential schools run by the Catholic Church. But can a Read more
One of the casualties of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was the confidentiality of the Catholic Sacrament of Penance — commonly called ‘the Seal of Confession’. The Catholic bishops who responded to the Commission were unable to convince the commissioners that the seal of confession should continue to be respected, Read more
Popes don’t suddenly become perfect, sinless human beings after they’re elected to papal office. Pope Francis says what being elected does do, is make a pope’s responsibilities greater and his prayer list longer. As far as sin’s concerned though, Francis says he’s basically the same person he was before he was elected in 2013. “The Read more
The Australian royal commission is over, but there is still a long way for us to travel so that we might stand together in solidarity committed to justice, truth and healing for all, for the living and for the dead. We are unlikely as a Church or as a society to get this right for Read more
Great shocks to the system often can jar loose utterly new responses from institutions typically given to maintaining the status quo. Other times, the effect can be to reopen debates from the past which, not so long ago, seemed definitively closed. That latter scenario may be unfolding in Australia right now, pivoting on once-intense debates Read more
In the BBC remake of G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown mystery novels, the intrepid title character sometimes makes use of certain special knowledge when sleuthing crimes. This particular superpower is not the result of radioactive mutation or dark magic. It has to do with his priesthood, but it is not the Holy Spirit, exactly. It Read more
South Korea can be sure of Vatican support in reconciling differences with North Korea. “You are always welcome,” South Korea’s Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong was told when he asked if President Moon Jae-in could visit. Last month Moon, who is a practising Catholic, sent Archbishop Kim to the Vatican on his behalf. Kim is South Read more
Pope Francis has set the scene for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to have the marriages it celebrates validated. This is one of a number of the Pope’s initiatives that aim to bring SSPX into full communion with the Church. A letter from the Vatican to Catholic bishops said they will be allowed Read more
Christian groups in Vanuatu would not support an international reconciliation ceremony which involved Muslims. The reconciliation took place on Sunday. The chairman of the Vanuatu Christian Council, Pastor Allan Nafuki, said they would not support the ceremony and instead plan a march for all Christians in Vanuatu next Friday. The want to send out a Read more