Abuse survivor Tim Lennon says the Vatican should have been decisive after George Pell was convicted and immediately defrocked him. However following the Victoria Supreme Court’s 2-1 ruling against Pell (78) last week, his legal team says it is considering a further appeal to Australia’s High Court. The Vatican says it is waiting for Pell Read more
In an effort to expand the Vatican’s green environmental stance, the city state has decided not to sell any single-use plastic items after its current supplies run out. Single-use plastic include bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and balloons. The top five single-use plastic items polluting Europe are cigarette butts, bottles and caps, food packaging, cotton Read more
The Holy See has announced it will lift the diplomatic immunity of its ambassador to France, who is accused of inappropriate touching and groping by numerous men. As a result, the path is cleared for Archbishop Luigi Ventura to be prosecuted by the French authorities over the allegations, with one incident said to have taken Read more
Two sets of bones have been found in a stone slab, a tomb expected to have bones in it is empty and the remains of a Vatican schoolgirl missing since 1983 continue to elude searchers. The empty tomb in the cemetery of the Pontifical Teutonic College was supposedly the last resting places of two 19th-century Read more
The Vatican has waived diplomatic immunity for its ambassador to France, Archbishop Luigi Ventura, who is being investigated for sexual assault. In doing so, the Vatican has cleared the way for Ventura (74) to face criminal charges in France. This decision to waive diplomatic immunity is unprecedented in the history of modern Vatican diplomacy. “This Read more
As California is currently embroiled in a battle over whether to punish priests for not breaking the seal of confession in cases when child abuse is revealed, the Vatican has issued a statement reaffirming the “inviolability” of the confidentiality of confession, and saying political pressure in this regard is a breach of religious liberty. “Every Read more
Two graves in a small Vatican cemetery will be opened in a renewed search for Emanuela Orlandi, a young woman who disappeared in Rome 36 years ago. Orlandi was a Vatican City resident and the daughter of a Vatican employee. She disappeared in Rome on 22 June 1983 when she was 15. In March this Read more
When Colleen Fay of Mount Rainier, Maryland, came out as transgender 12 years ago to her parish music director, she was fired from her position on the choir. She later described feeling like she was in “doctrinal limbo” because there is no universal teaching on gender from the church. “I’m hurt by the Catholic Church Read more