Letter from Rome Pope Francis named thirteen new cardinals on Sunday past, including 10 eligible to vote for the next pope. Arguably, nothing any Pope ever does is more consequential than appointing cardinals. Not only do they immediately become the most influential leaders in the Church, but someday they’ll also elect a new Pope…
Letter from Rome Up to this point, the ire of those who believe Cardinal George Pell is innocent of the charges of child sexual abuse brought against him in his home country has been directed largely at the Australian judiciary, most recently at a Victoria appeals court that upheld his conviction on Wednesday in…
Letter from Nigeria An embattled Catholic diocese in southeastern Nigeria facing a mounting wave of violent attacks from Islamic militias has declared “enough is enough”, demanding that “bad” members of the largely Muslim Fulani tribe be “flushed out” of the area and that local self-protection groups be armed to provide their own security. Bishop…
Letter from Mexico Recently – and, many observers would say, belatedly – the Church has awoken to the reality of anti-Christian persecution around the world. The emblematic case is the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq, where Catholic organisations such as the Knights of Columbus and Aid to the Church in Need have meant the…
Letter from Rome Within just the last few days, two senior Catholic prelates from Iraq have referred to plans for Pope Francis to visit the country next year as, essentially, a done deal. Of course, this is the Middle East we’re talking about, where the best-laid plans go to die. St John Paul II…
Letter from Rome When the Vatican announced last Thursday that Pope Francis had named a new spokesman, most early reaction suggested the move didn’t exactly inspire confidence about an upgrade in the role of the press office. The Pope tapped a 43-year-old Italian layman who’s worked in the press office for the last decade,…
Shortly after Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, he declared his wish to preside over a “poor Church for the poor”. While that was a statement of intent, his first real chance to make it operational came three months later when he visited the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily,…
Every so often, we get official confirmation of the obvious, and, surprisingly enough, it still makes waves. Such is the case again with the release of a preparatory document for an October summit of bishops on the Amazon, which confirms that the ordination of married “elderly people”, meaning men, will be on the agenda. From…
Although right-wing populist Matteo Salvini is now Italy’s undisputed political leader after his Lega party finished in first place in last week’s European elections, he doesn’t bask in universal acclaim. Among other expressions of disapproval, some Italians who reject his anti-immigrant, anti-outsider rhetoric have taken to showing up at his rallies and other events dressed…
News headlines of late have been dominated by rumblings between the US and Iran, capped by President Donald Trump taking to Twitter to state emphatically: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.” In such moments of global tension, the Vatican typically aspires to play the role of a reconciler…