Pope Francis has expressed his spiritual closeness and solidarity with those affected by the eruption of the La Sourfrière volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Authorities in the Caribbean island nation have ordered the evacuation of thousands of people to avoid a humanitarian disaster. Pope Francis, in a message signed by the Vatican’s Cardinal…
Following the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin US bishops have appealed for Catholics to work “to cleanse our land of the evil of racism”. The May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd while in police custody and the surrounding events, including the three-week trial of Mr Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer now…
Catholic organisations expressed dismay that the United States this year could admit the lowest number of refugees in decades. According to the International Rescue Committee, a non-profit that assists refugees, only 2,050 refugees have been admitted to the United States in the current fiscal year. Although President Biden promised to raise the limit on the…
Three priests associated with a minor seminary located in the Vatican testified that they neither witnessed nor were informed of suspected cases of sexual abuse occurring at the school. Taking the stand at the Vatican City State criminal court April 14, the three priests affiliated with the St Pius X Pre-Seminary also cast doubt on…
The auxiliary bishop of Armagh has warned parents not to alienate their children from the other parent when relationships end, saying it’s “a particular form of domestic abuse”. In a homily over the weekend, Bishop Michael Router pointed to International Parental Alienation Awareness day, which takes place on Sunday, April 25. “This day highlights a…
Christian leaders in Nigeria claimed April 11 that Muhammadu Buhari’s government is keen on Islamising the West African nation, following the recent appointments of Court of Appeal judges. In their statement, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria called for “serious adjustments” on already executed appointments, and a “paradigm shift” in future appointments. “Under…
Dignity: Seeking respect in back row America by Chris Arnade (Sentinel/Penguin Random House, £20.00) Frank Litton For years, I taught a course introducing Irish politics to US students who came to work as interns in the Dáil and Seanad. Many were surprised to discover how much the people they met knew about US politics. Some told…
Germany’s lower house of Parliament is considering replacing state payments to the nation’s two largest churches. The Catholic and Protestant churches received combined state benefits of more than $542 million in 2020. At a hearing in the interior affairs committee of the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, they welcomed in principle the intention of…
It is a difficult and uncertain moment in the West, when the vision of who man is and what he is for is being questioned, and the answers proposed by society are “short-sighted,” the Vatican’s foreign minister has said. In an interview with Le Sfide magazine, Archbishop Paul Gallagher said he is “cautiously optimistic” about…
Major Vatican conference on priesthood slated for 2022 Increasing vocations to the priesthood, improving the way laypeople and priests work together and ensuring that service, not power, motivates the request for ordination are all possible outcomes of a major symposium being planned by the Vatican in February 2022. “A theological symposium does not claim to…