Posts Tagged ‘Rome’

Rome’s anti-mafia priest attacked by man with cleaver

Thursday, August 31st, 2023
anti-mafia priest

A man carrying a hammer and a meat cleaver attacked a high-profile anti-mafia priest in Rome during a march against organised crime this week. Father Antonio Coluccia is known for his efforts to rescue young people from the drug trade. Coluccia immediately vowed the assault won’t interrupt his work. “I will continue my fight which Read more

Local synods are speaking. How will Rome respond?

Thursday, June 30th, 2022

The relationship between the centre and the peripheries has always been critical in Church history. That’s even truer now in the context of the “synodal process”. A number of interesting decisions the Vatican has taken recently shows how delicate this moment is for Pope Francis’ pontificate. The first came on June 2 when Bishop Dominique Read more

Cavern discovered under Rome’s Monteverde neighbourhood

Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

A  350 metre long cavern has been discovered deep under the Monteverde neighbourhood in Rome. It is one of the hundreds that have been blamed for a growing number of sinkholes that have swallowed cars and threatened to topple buildings. Five years ago builders digging a garage realised that there was empty space beneath their Read more

Catholic priests kick off first international organ festival at Rome’s Pantheon

Thursday, September 10th, 2020

The first international organ festival will be held under the nearly 2,000-year-old dome of Rome’s Pantheon and above the relics of early Christian martyrs. The melodies of Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers will be played on the organ this month in an effort to use beauty to reconnect people with the mystery of God. Read more

Public Masses resume in Rome

Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Public Masses have resumed in Rome, 10 weeks after they were closed because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Although public worship is permitted, additional safety protocols have been instigated to ensure any remaining coronavirus infection does not continue to spread. “To receive Communion again as a family was the culmination of our every prayer and Read more

Rome, a deserted city

Thursday, March 19th, 2020

Since the fall of the fascist dictator Mussolini, the state in Italy has been a rather nebulous entity. Governments rise and fall — 61 since the end of the Second World War, but who’s counting? – yet things have kept on just fine. Where the state was for the most part invisible, the Catholic Church Read more

How many coins get thrown into the Trevi Fountain?

Thursday, November 14th, 2019

On average, the value of coins thrown into the Trevi fountain in Rome is about €2500 (about NZ$4346) That’s per day. Toss in a coin, so the story goes, and you’ll return to bella Roma The tradition of tossing a coin into the fountain goes back to time immemorial, later embedded in the 1950s film Three Coins Read more

Tourists banned from sitting on famous Spanish Steps

Monday, August 12th, 2019

Tourists are now forbidden from sitting on the Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti, better known around the world as the Spanish Steps. A police regulation has been introduced this northern summer instructing visitors against “sitting down by consuming food or drinks on a historical heritage property, Read more

All roads do not lead to Rome…some lead to Rom

Monday, July 22nd, 2019

An elderly person was on a mission to see the Pope and decided to make his way there by car. He was surprised when his GPS told him he had arrived, despite no signs of any of the famous buildings or architecture. He was in Rom a the small town in North-Rhine Westphalia. He had Read more

Solutions needed for whole Church, not just Rome

Thursday, April 4th, 2019
Cardinal Marx

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, visited La Croix for an interview. A member of Pope Francis’ advisory council of cardinals, he reflects on the crisis that the Church is currently experiencing. How to do you see the crisis that the Catholic Church is experiencing today? Since Vatican II, we have asked ourselves how the Church Read more