The US Supreme Court said that New York state restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic are a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise. After the ruling the Bishop of Brooklyn, whose diocese was a plaintiff in the suit, said that religious worship should be considered an essential during the coronavirus pandemic. “It…
On the same day that Pope Francis approved the beatification of 127 Catholics killed in Spain in hatred of the faith in the 20th Century, a hashtag calling for Catholic priests to be burned was trending on Twitter in Spain. Twitter permitted the hashtag #FuegoAlClero, meaning ‘Burn the Clergy’, to trend online in Spain November 24,…
A theory of everything (that matters): A short guide to Einstein, Relativity and the Future of Faith by Alister McGrath (Hodder and Stoughton, £14.99) Christopher Moriarty Last year saw the celebration of the centenary of the validation of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. An event of the utmost importance to science, the observations of 1919…
The French bishops’ conference announced last Friday that it would submit another appeal to the Council of State, calling a proposed 30-person limit on public Masses during Advent “unacceptable.” In a statement issued November 27, the bishops said that they “have a duty to ensure the freedom of worship in our country” and therefore would…
Cardinal Vincent Nichols urged the UK government to reconsider a proposed cut to its foreign aid budget. In a letter to MPs released November 26, the president of the bishops’ conference of England and Wales expressed concern at the proposed cut in overseas aid from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. “In today’s figures…
J.D. Flynn Washington’s Cardinal, made a cardinal last weekend, told a journalist on November 24 that in his diocese, he will not deny Communion to a politician who has pledged to enshrine access to abortion in federal law and permit federal funding of abortions. That politician is President-elect Joe Biden. Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s comment is…
Different and the same: a folk history of the Protestants of independent Ireland Deirdre Nuttall (Eastwood Books/Wordwell, €25) Ian d’Alton This illuminating book is about “the stories of the ‘old’ Protestant communities of independent Ireland and how these stories have justified feelings of belonging, entitlement, estrangement, marginalisation, and more in the context of a State that…
Pope thanks Argentinian women’s network for pro-life commitment Responding to a letter sent by the women’s network Mujeres de las Villas, the Pope offers his “sincere thanks” for their work. Since 2018, the network has been fighting for the protection of the unborn, especially in the working-class neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. In particular, the signatories…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Two great prophets stride into our liturgical readings for the Second Sunday of Advent, Isaiah and John the Baptist. We usually think of prophets as people who foretell the future but that is only partially true. The real meaning of prophecy is revealing and proclaiming God’s presence…
China claims papal critique over Uyghurs has ‘no factual basis at all’ Following Pope Francis’ mention in passing of the Uyghurs as persecuted in a new book, the Chinese foreign ministry said the claim is groundless. “I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi – what ISIS did to them…