Vatican criminal trial begins against priests accused in abuse case Fr Gabriele Martinelli, 28, has heard a Vatican criminal court accuse him of repeatedly sexually abusing a younger student at a minor seminary inside the Vatican. Msgr Enrico Radice, 71, former rector of the seminary, heard the court accuse him of obstructing the investigation by…
Chai Brady and Ruadhán Jones The Church should draw up guidelines for interfaith events with the Muslim community to avoid “ambiguous and potentially misleading situations” according to an expert in interreligious dialogue. Fr Michael O’Sullivan M.Afr., who is the current director of World Missions Ireland and has spent decades on the Middle East, said an…
Medicine traditionally recognises that human life is a basic good, and that patients come to doctors for healing and the restoration of health, writes Fr Seán MacGiollarnáth O. Carm. In 1997, John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin and other philosophers submitted a brief to the US Supreme Court which called for assisted suicide. Paul Weithman, their colleague,…
Former Vatican finance czar Cardinal George Pell met with Pope Francis in a private audience at the Vatican Monday. The Holy See press office said that the audience took place October 12, but gave no further details. A video of the meeting showed the Pope shaking the cardinal’s hand, while saying: “It is a pleasure to…
As Armenia and Azerbaijan continued their battles and bombardments in early October, an Armenian archbishop pleaded for the intervention of the European Union to halt the conflict before it grew into a regional war. “We don’t want advice about a cease-fire, but real concrete steps so that the aggression stops definitively,” Armenian Catholic Archbishop Raphael…
The Diocese of Brooklyn filed a lawsuit in federal court on October 8 against the state of New York, charging that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new orders reducing church capacity violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion. “The executive orders this week have left us with no other option than to go…
Singer, actress and star of Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg revealed that she is making plans to get a three-quel off the ground. Ms Goldberg announced her plans on the James Corden Show after he asked why the Sister Act 3 hasn’t happened. “Because for a long time they kept saying no one wanted to see…
Given that the right to life follows from the dignity that we have in virtue of being human, it is inconsistent with human rights law that the life of any human being can be taken away by appeal to such dignity, writes Dr Gaven Kerr The Dying with Dignity Bill – which passed the first…
An Italian Catholic priest was freed on October 8, two years after he was kidnapped by a jihadist group. The office of the president of Mali announced the liberation of Fr Pierluigi Maccalli, a member of the Society of African Missions. He was one of four hostages released this week by fighters believed to be…
The Dominicans in Meath “rejoiced and celebrated” with Sr Maria Breidge as she made her first profession last week. Sr Breidge was a founding member of Mary’s Meals in her native Donegal and a supporter of their many fund-raising walks to Knock. It was on one of these walks that she began to consider her…