Nuclear weapons already pose a deeply concerning “existential threat” to the world says the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the UN, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero. He told the UN committee on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons that the threat is especially dangerous today. He highlighted the global increase in rhetoric and threats about nuclear weapons’ use, Read more
Allegations of systematic attacks by the Russian military against Ukrainian religious leaders and deliberate destruction of churches have sparked outrage. The outrage follows the death last month of a 59-year-old Orthodox priest, Fr Stepan Podolchak (pictured). The Tablet reports he was tortured to death by Russian soldiers. Human rights groups condemned his death and those Read more
The Vatican hopes its help will enable young Russians and Ukrainians to enjoy a friendly encounter at World Youth Day (WYD) this week. Pope Francis will arrive in Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday for the August 1-6 international WYD gathering. Delegations of young Russians and Ukrainians are expected to be there despite their countries being at Read more
In the warring empire of the potentate, Vladimir Putin and the pontiff Patriarch Kirill, a priest who prays for peace is a perjurer. He condemns himself to be treated as an apostate, the religious equivalent of a political traitor. This is the extent to which Russia will go in silencing those within the Orthodox Church Read more
A Vatican spokesman said Wednesday that the Holy See has taken down its main vatican.va website amid a series of apparent attempts to hack the site. “Technical investigations are ongoing due to abnormal attempts to access the site,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told Reuters Nov. 30, without elaboration. The perpetrator and motives of the alleged hacker or Read more
Warsaw’s annual “Independence March” by far-right nationalist groups has long been used to espouse Polish pride, but Ukraine was on their minds at this year’s event. “Hitler is dead but Putin is alive and he is repeating history with the Ukrainians,” declared Stanislaw Fidurski, a 95-year-old retired colonel at Friday’s march, which was led by Read more
Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis helped facilitate recent prisoner exchanges with Ukraine and said the Vatican is ready to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia. The Italian news agency Askanews reported the ambassador, Aleksandr Avdeyev, said the exchanges of prisoners occur in accordance with the lists of military prisoners of Read more
Supplying Russian soldiers with Viagra and condoning the rape of Ukrainian women, men and children is being jointly criticised by the UN and Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Their stories “simply break the heart, make the blood run cold in your veins. “This war will go down in history as one in which Russia uses sexual Read more
Pope Francis returned from his brief trip to Kazakhstan, a country nestled between Russia and China, having failed to sit down with his Russian counterpart Patriarch Kirill or the delegation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. With the pope surrounded by empty seats in Kazakhstan, critics questioned the efficacy of his diplomacy of encounter and his Read more
A conversation with the 44-year-old bishop Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of the Ukraine Latin diocese of Kharkiv – Zaporizhzhia. Honcharuk describes life in his diocese at the moment. Could you describe the situation in your diocese, which has become the main theatre of this terrible war? Our Church is alive and active! Priests and faithful are Read more