It had been quiet around the former primate of France for years. But Cardinal Barbarin suddenly reappeared for the papal election. Now he is 75. Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon from 2002 to 2020 and thus “Primate of Gaul”, will turn 75 on Friday (17 October). He thus reaches the age limit at which…
More than 1,000 people have already been executed in Iran in 2025. UN human rights activists are appalled and accuse the Islamic Republic of carrying out death sentences on an “industrial scale”. UN human rights experts are deploring an unprecedented wave of executions in Iran. More than 1,000 death sentences have already been carried out…
Fewer and fewer cardinals and papal electors from Central and Eastern Europe The death of the Romanian Grand Archbishop Muresan throws a new spotlight on the fact that the era of John Paul II is fading as its defining figures disappear. Central and Eastern Europe are receding into the background. It was the message of…
Episcopal question mark behind the Pope’s words: Bishop Kohlgraf warns against minimising the issue of abuse. Sexualised violence is a crime against human beings. The Church has a responsibility in this regard. In the debate on how to deal with sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz questions recent statements by…
Almost three quarters of Britons are hardly interested in the election of the new Archbishop of Canterbury. However, the majority would like him to speak out on poverty, homelessness and social issues rather than politics. Almost three quarters of people in the UK do not care who becomes the next Archbishop of Canterbury. This was…
Anniversary programme for the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death in Barcelona in 2026 The legacy of architect Antoni Gaudí is the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. 10 June 2026 is the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. An occasion for an anniversary programme. A poetic version reads like this: Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) was the “architect of God”…
On an ordinary September morning in Salzburg, Austria, the improbable happened. Three elderly women, once cloistered nuns, packed their bags, left a retirement home, and marched back to the convent they had called home for most of their lives. They didn’t come alone. Cameras, journalists, and – in a detail that makes the whole episode…
A historic moment: for the first time since the Reformation, an English monarch took part in a Catholic funeral service for a British royal. The Pope also spoke. The Catholic funeral mass for the Duchess of Kent took place in London’s Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday. The liturgy was presided over by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the…
AI instead of industrialisation: Church historian Ernesti sees Pope Leo XIV as the successor to his predecessor. The new Pope’s response to the current social revolution is still unclear. For church historian Jörg Ernesti, Leo XIV is still “a black box” in theological terms. “We don’t know whether he will make conservative decisions or…
In July it was a church, now a mourning society: Islamist terrorists in eastern Congo are not picky when it comes to killing. Islamist terrorists have once again carried out a massacre of civilians in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several African media unanimously report that the Ugandan militia Allied Democratic Forces…