As the threat of a Russian military incursion in Ukraine continues to loom, European bishops have urged peace, asking that both international law and the sovereignty of each nation involved in the conflict be respected while tensions escalate. In the statement, signed by Archbishop Gintaras Linas Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania, President of the Council of…
New data released by the Church in Italy highlights what has been a concerning trend among Catholic leaders in the country for decades: namely, a drop in the number of local priests and an increase in the average age of Italy’s clerics. However, this data also found that while there are less men joining the…
Letter from Rome After South Korean President Moon Jae-in invited Pope Francis to visit North Korea, a prominent archbishop indicated that the Vatican is working to foster conditions in which a papal visit to the Asian nation is possible. Archbishop Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect for the Vatican Congregation for Clergy and who is originally from…
Letter from Rome After the death earlier this year of a close friend and former colleague, Benedict XVI wrote a letter to the monastery to which his late friend belonged in which he offered condolences, and said he hoped his journey to the afterlife would not be long in coming. German priest and Cistercian monk…
In the 2010’s, the term ‘woke’ became a popular word, implying political and social awareness, although critics say the term signals a sort of pretentiousness or elitism about one’s understanding of any given issue. In his new book, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, Rod Dreher – author of the New York Times…
One of Europe’s leading cardinals has criticised the continent’s political leaders, and those throughout the west, for abandoning Afghani refugees, focusing more on numbers than on how best to help those fleeing violence. Speaking to SIR, the news outlet of the Italian bishops, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxemburg and president of the Commission of Bishops’…
The Faithful still long to practice their faith free from harassment, writes Elise Ann Allen For Iraqis, the first week of August 2014 will forever be etched into their memory as the start of one of the worst episodes of religious and ethnic persecution the country has ever seen when the so-called Islamic State overtook…
What is probably the Vatican’s highest stakes trial yet began last week, featuring a cast of both new and familiar characters being indicted for an array of financial crimes. However, a surprising face reappeared on the sidelines. For those who followed the 2015-2016 “Vatileaks 2” saga, which culminated with four people being charged over the…
Pope Francis’s decision to restrict celebration of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, effectively rolling back wider permission granted under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, is being met by predictably mixed reaction from Catholics around the globe, with some praising the move as prophetic and others calling it a stain on Francis’s legacy. Speaking to Crux, liturgy…
While the Vatican is embroiled in its own battle against gender politics in Italy, the Cuban bishops are facing a similar dilemma, and have issued a statement criticising a resolution that would make so-called “gender ideology” part of school curricula. The bishops argue that the resolution is unscientific in that it denies basic biological differences…