There are plenty of things for which I thank God: good friends, the health of my children, the glorious tenth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum. Another is the fact that my wife and I were never made to attend a Catholic marriage preparation course. If we had been members of a parish where the mind-numbingly dull half-year 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
Seeking euthanasia may result Catholics being denied sacraments, say some Canadian bishops. While the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada does not alter the truth that these acts are “gravely immoral,” it is “foreseeable” that priests will receive requests for the sacraments from Catholics contemplating these actions, the Alberta and NWT bishops stated Read more
Pope Francis has said he will establish a Vatican commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic Church. Francis was asked during a meeting with leaders of female religious congregations about women deacons and their role in the early church. The Pope responded that he had spoken about Read more
A fraudster who posed as a priest and celebrated sacraments for two decades in California has been arrested. Erwin Mena, 59, is alleged to have sold fake tickets for a bogus pilgrimage to see Pope Francis when he visited the United States. Mena allegedly pocketed more than US$15,000 for the con. Despite acting as a Read more
The Vatican has dismissed as “in no way reliable” an interview which quotes Pope Francis saying “all divorced who ask will be admitted” to Communion. Veteran journalist Eugenio Scalfari wrote in La Repubblica that the Pope made the comment during a phone interview. According to a translation by traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli, Pope Francis said: “The Read more
Bishops at the synod on the family last week grappled with the issue of access to the sacraments for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. In 93 interventions at the synod on Wednesday and Thursday, widely different views were expressed. A key issue is whether there could be any possibility for divorced and remarried people to Read more
Priests in two ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico are being issued with cards to help distinguish them from false priests trying to scam people. The cards will be issued in Tlalnepantla and Mexico ecclesiastical provinces. The phenomenon of “false priests” is on the rise across the nation. The scammers go to hospitals, cemeteries and churches outside Read more
Responding to an invitation from Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera to seek reconciliation with Christ during the season of Advent, nearly 5000 Catholics stood in line for hours to receive the Sacrament of Confession. According to the Archdiocese of Mexico City’s News Service, some 30 priests spent 12 hours in shifts hearing confessions at the Cathedral Read more
It’s long been accused of adopting an at best ambiguous role in the fight against organised crime in Sicily, but the Catholic Church has now taken a symbolic stand against the Mafia in its Palermo heartland by refusing to give the sacraments to the son of a notorious Cosa Nostra crime lord. Despite protests from Read more