If Catholic bishops hope to reclaim their moral credibility after revelations about covering up clergy sexual abuse, the hierarchy might start by sending a simple but potent message: Church leaders should take a year of abstinence from preaching about sex and gender. It might seem obvious that a church facing a crisis of legitimacy caused Read more
Did a just-concluded meeting of Catholic bishops here open the door to rethinking Catholic teaching on homosexuality? The question was unexpectedly left hanging in the wake of the final report of the Vatican’s synod on young people, which ended Sunday (Oct. 28). Produced in a unique collaboration between 249 bishops and some three dozen young Read more
Hundreds of priests in Britain support Humanae Vitae – the encyclical affirming traditional Christian teaching on the family and sexuality. The encyclical, written by Pope Paul VI and issued in July 1968, specifically deems artificial contraception as being “absolutely excluded” and “intrinsically wrong”. The British clergy have signed a statement endorsing the encyclical as its Read more
Young people helping the Vatican hierarchy prepare for next year’s Synod say the bishops should be open to hearing young people talk about sex, love and sexuality. The theme for the October 2018 conference is “Young people, faith, and vocational discernment”. To involve young people in planning and preparation for the conference, the Secretariat General of Read more
A new study has highlighted concerns about the sexual and relationship rights of people living in Australian residential aged care. Research from the University of New England showed many couples in such facilities are unable to have normal sexual relationships. This is because of systematic and illegal breaches of their privacy, the study stated. The Read more
A statement from a New Zealander on the goodness of sexual love in marriage is being considered for inclusion in the family synod’s final document. In a blog post on the New Zealand Catholic bishops’ website, Dr John Kleinsman wrote of how the synod’s working document made little mention of this goodness. He told a Read more
The pro-life coalition Voice of the Family has warned the working document for the synod on the family threatens elements of Church teaching. An analysis by Voice of the Family critiqued the Instrumentum Laboris for omissions and ambiguity in wording. The document “threatens the entire structure of Catholic teaching on marriage, the family and human Read more
On June 26th the Supreme Court ruled (by a slim 5 to 4 majority) that all states must now grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Writing for the majority Justice Anthony Kennedy contended that committed same-sex partnerships should be treated as fully equivalent in dignity and honor to traditional marriage, and that by not doing Read more
A Carlist group in the northern Spanish region of Asturias has caused controversy by seemingly calling for beaches to be segregated by gender. “Catholics, preserve your decency in summer, too: Don’t go to mixed beaches!” reads the poster, uploaded by the Traditionalist Group Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to its Facebook page. The poster was accompanied Read more
An Irish priest has challenged the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a life-long virgin. Writing on his blog, suspended Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery mentioned a Scripture passage that refers to Jesus’ brothers and sisters. “We are told that Jesus had four brothers, and an indefinite number of sisters,” Fr Flannery wrote. “This Read more