Prisoners at Bihute jail near Goroka in Papua New Guinea have reconciled with Sisters of Mercy. The reconciliation means that the sisters will resume their programs inside the jail. They were stopped earlier in the year after an attack on the sisters’ residence. In April, 12 armed men drove into the Sisters of Mercys’ compound Read more
The Solomon Islands Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace which has just completed a week of national reconciliation ceremonies for Solomon Islands own ethnic crisis in 1998, now wants to pursue reconciliation with PNG and Bougainville. Organisers of a week of reconciliation ceremonies held in Solomon Islands say the programme is a first step Read more
The bishop of Bougainville, Bernard Unabali, has called on the people of Bougainville to see reconciliation as means for bringing peace and not just for political reasons. He said this during his speech at Teituno village in the Wisai area of Buin in south Bougainville while witnessing a reconciliation ceremony in May. The reconciliation saw Read more
A statement from the traditionalist Society of St Pius X indicates that a new attempt at reconciliation with Rome has stalled. According to the statement, issued by SSPX superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay, the society “does not primarily seek recognition from the Vatican”. Bishop Fellay met Pope Francis for the first time in April. For Read more
Some people seem to think that humility is being self-effacing, self-critical, even self-despising. But humility simply means being real. It’s a lovely grounding word, from ‘humus’ meaning earth, and it should make us feel comfortable with who and what we are. All that self-abnegation stuff can be another product of the annoying ego, the I, Read more
New Zealand’s bishops have produced a pastoral letter on Mercy in which Catholics are asked to give themselves generously to the sacrament of Reconciliation. The letter, titled, “Be Merciful“, notes the interest in the jubilee Year of Mercy throughout the Catholic world. The bishops state that “as a way of life, mercy directs our outlook Read more
Fulton Sheen is reputed to have said, “Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.” I can’t remember where I read it or why it stuck in my mind, but the words came back to me as I waited in line to make my first confession in more than 20 years. It Read more
Make no mistake: converting to Catholicism as an adult after growing up in the Anglican Church is quite a culture shock. It didn’t take me long to discover how the two world views collide at the mention of just one word: Confession. Picture me not so very long ago on the naughty step at Westminster Read more
Pope Francis has told several newly ordained priests never to refuse Baptism to anyone who asks for it. Speaking after presiding at an ordination Mass at St Peter’s Basilica on April 26, the Pope also warned the newly ordained against being vain priests. “A priest is ugly who lives for his own pleasure,” Pope Francis Read more
The Anglican Communion has demonstrated, yet again, how eager it is to keep up with changing times. In line with society’s greater recognition of the devastation wrought by child sexual abuse, a recent Synod has sought to remove any impediment to good professional practice and individual conscience by allowing individual priests to report on serious Read more