Maronite bishops welcome ecumenical embrace The embrace in Cuba between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and their subsequent Joint Declaration represent “an ecumenical and prophetic step”, the bishops of the Maronite Church have said. Recognising how the February 12 encounter had been “prompted by a shared sense of responsibility”, the Maronite bishops thanked Pope Francis for…

“We are the pro-life generation,” Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said to a pro-life rally in Washington, DC, on March 2. “We are here to stand up for the rule of law. We are here to defend Texas. We do not want the Supreme Court to overturn a very…

Ability to ‘see’ can dissolve racism – Ghana cardinal The Zulu way of greeting, in which people greet others by saying “Sawubona”, meaning “I see you”, points a way towards how we can dissolve racism, Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has said. Speaking at ‘Black and White in America: How deep the divide?’, a conference…

A report on the abuse by clergy of hundreds of Pennsylvania children over several decades and the best picture Oscar win for Spotlight have “brought painful, but important, reminders that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect children from the scourge of abuse”, the head of the US bishops’ child protection agency has…

Australian Cardinal George Pell has promised to work with a group of abuse survivors to help support healing and protection programmes and prevent suicide among victims. “One suicide is too many. And there have been many such tragic suicides,” he said, continuing, “I commit myself to working with the group to try to stop this…

Catholics should encourage a “vigorous debate” among India’s intellectuals “about the danger of surrendering the future of the country to the aggressive elements in society”, Church leaders have said. Speaking in Bangalore at the 32nd plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis said most Hindus do not seek to impose…

Survivors of sexual abuse who have summoned the courage to come forward have taught us many things, but one clear truth is that, in terms of its consequences, abuse is not an event, but more akin to a permanent condition. It’s not that abuse happens at a specific time and place, and then is over.…

Pakistan remains ill-served by its blasphemy law, writes Paul Keenan Two very different ‘heroes’ were celebrated in Pakistan last week, their differing yet converging stories being instantly illustrative of the religious gulf that continues to pervade in that country. On February 29, news filtered from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi that Mumtaz Qadri had been hanged…

More than 150 representatives of associations and movements of the lay faithful were urged to bring about a “culture of mercy” at a special one day conference at the weekend. Speakers at ‘Opening the Door of Mercy’, which was organised by the Council for Pastoral Renewal and Adult Faith Development of the Irish Bishops’ Conference,…