The Vatican, the United States, the United Nations are all in agreement in condemning Syria’s outrageous use of force against its own people and have called for reform. In receiving the Syrian ambassador’s credentials, Pope Benedict took the opportunity of saying the Holy See urges the troubled Syrian government to respect Syrian citizens’ desire for reform, Read more
The South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference is urging reforms in Swaziland, calling sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarchy a police state that is “tearing itself apart.” A statement issued Thursday after the bishops visited Swaziland said the king should lift a state of emergency that has been in place for nearly four decades, reinstate “the full Read more
Global reform of the food system is needed in order to help people buy adequate food, Oxfam warns. Rising food prices are tightening the squeeze, even on those who can currently afford food, the NGO says. In an acceleration of a trend which has seen food prices double in the last 20 years, the charity Read more
A year after a widespread sex scandal rocked Roman Catholics in Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland, German intellectuals and faithful alike are turning their backs on the church, calling for change or simply leaving the congregation. German theologians and others have aired their discontent in a series of petitions to church leaders calling for changes including Read more
According to theologian Hans Kung, the Catholic Church is seriously ill, possibly terminally, and only an honest diagnosis and radical reforms will cure it. Introducing his new book “Can the Church Still Be Saved?”, Kung argues that the malady of the church goes beyond recent sexual abuse scandals. According to him, the church’s resistance to Read more