The holiness of God is a power that is constantly expanding and will defeat all evil once and for all, Pope Francis has said. “Evil’s days are numbered,” the Pope said on February 27 during his weekly general audience. “One thing is certain: It is evil that should be afraid, and this is beautiful.” Continuing…
The death penalty is a cruel violation of the basic right to life and robs people of the chance to repent and make amends for the crimes they have committed, Pope Francis said. The right to life is “the source of all gifts and of all other rights” that must be protected, the Pope said…
The Catholic Church needs “new legal structures of accountability” for bishops accused of sexual abuse or of negligence in handling abuse allegations, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago told the Vatican summit on safeguarding. Addressing Pope Francis and some 190 presidents of bishops’ conferences, heads of Eastern Catholic churches, religious superiors and officials of the…
A state senator in California introduced a bill yesterday which would seek to force priests to violate the sacramental seal of Confession in suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. Clergy are already mandatory reporters in the state of California, but there is a legal exemption for material disclosed in the confessional. Senator Jerry Hill…
Colm Fitzpatrick and Greg Daly Parishioners must play a more active role in keeping their local churches afloat, Waterford and Lismore’s bishop Phonsie Cullinan has warned. Dr Cullinan said that lay people are called to be involved in and support the Church which at a “very nuts and bolts” level requires financial contribution in their local parish. His…
US bishops have welcomed the Pope’s decision on the disgraced former cardinal as a sign of real reform writes Christopher White Pope Francis’ historic decision to defrock Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at the weekend (technically, to dismiss him from the clerical state) prompted an immediate wave of responses from US prelates, who lauded the decision…
Pope Francis has restored priestly faculties to 94-year-old Fr Ernesto Cardenal, who had been suspended in 1984 for holding a cabinet position in Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, in violation of canon law. “The Holy Father has graciously granted the absolution of all canonical censures imposed on Rev. Fr Ernesto Cardenal, accepting the request he had recently…
A Dublin parish has expressed “great joy” after hearing Blessed John Henry Newman is set to be canonised after approval from Pope Francis. Fr Bill Dailey of Newman University Church in Dublin, founded by Blessed John Henry, said that so many people feel a great attachment to the church. “Catholics have a sense that a…
A famous Hollywood actress has said that her Catholic faith pushed her towards supporting charities and tacking causes of injustice and poverty. Patricia Heaton, best known for her roles as Debra Barone on the long-running hit comedy Everybody Loves Raymond and as Frankie Heck in The Middle, said that donating to charity was important to…
Dioceses in the state of New Jersey made public on February 13 the names of priests whom they said had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors, and one of the names is former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The former US cardinal’s name appears in the list from the Archdiocese of Newark with a…