More than 220,000 people left the Catholic Church in Germany in 2020, according to official figures released last Wednesday. The statistics issued by the German bishops’ conference on July 14 showed that 221,390 people exited the Catholic Church last year. The figure was almost 19% lower than that of 2019, when a record 272,771 people departed. But it was…
The View Niamh Uí Bhriain Last week, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín read an astonishing document into the Dáil record. He had received a document, under freedom of information, in regard to a shocking decision made about the movement of older, vulnerable people from hospitals to nursing homes at the outset of the Covid-19 crisis. Some background is…
A two-time survivor of China’s detention camps in Xinjiang described suffering physical and sexual violence at the hands of camp guards, in her July 14 testimony at an international religious freedom gathering in Washington, DC. Tursunay Ziyawudun, 42, of China’s northwest province of Xinjiang, spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC on…
Author in Chief: The untold story of our presidents and the books they wrote by Craig Fehrman (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, $30) Felix M. Larkin All US presidents since Truman – including Truman – have written books, and many earlier presidents have also. These books generally fall into two categories: campaign books that…
A Vatican prosecutor requested that Fr Gabriele Martinelli, who is accused of sexually abusing a younger student at the St Pius X Pre-Seminary, be sentenced to six years in prison if convicted. At the 11th session of the Vatican criminal trial July 15, Roberto Zanotti, the prosecutor, explained that the recommended sentence for the crimes…
Church officials are studying a reported miracle attributed to an Italian Catholic who died at the age of 21, the postulator of his cause has said. Fr Walter Vinci, Postulator General of the Order of St Camillus, noted that Pope Francis had recognised the heroic virtues of Nicola d’Onofrio on July 5, 2013. Heroic virtue is one…
Christina Malone Three weeks ago, we finally got to celebrate Grace’s First Confession. A week before the clothes were picked and laid out on her bed every day. The excitement was unreal. Grace asked me if I remembered my First Confession. Yes, of course I do. I was about eight years of age and like…
Fatima, the Family and Church: Mary’s Message with Prayers and Devotions by Timothy Tindal Robertson and Donal Anthony Foley (Catholic Truth Society, £3.50 / €4.20) This booklet is by two writers who have between them decades of work in promoting Fatima. In 2013 Pope Francis decided to hold a Marian Day in the Year of Faith…
Vatican’s financial watchdog highlights ‘increasing trend’ in reports to Promoter of Justice The Vatican’s financial watchdog authority reported last Thursday that it received 89 suspicious activity reports in 2020, 16 of which it forwarded to the Promoter of Justice for possible prosecution. In a 52-page annual report, released July 15, the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority…
ECB moves closer to digital Euro The European Central Bank took the next step towards a “digital euro” last week by launching the project’s exploration phase, but questions remain about potential pitfalls and benefits for euro zone citizens, AFP reported. The move comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has hastened a shift away from cash, and…