Ten years ago, Germany was gripped by a refugee crisis. Looking back, Archbishop Stefan Heße defends Chancellor Angela Merkel’s course at the time – and warns against a policy of deterrence. Catholic refugee bishop Stefan Heße has defended Angela Merkel’s statement “We can do it” from 2015. He said in an interview with the Catholic…
Pope Leo XIV is not simply an “anti-Trump”, says Volker Leppin. In the current issue of Herder-Korrespondenz (August), the professor of church history emphasises that Leo certainly shares the views of the American president. Leppin explained that Cardinal Robert Prevost had been “anything but ‘woke’” on issues of gender: In 2012, he had declared to…
“We don’t even know enough to make an educated guess,” says the director of the Vatican Observatory on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. From a religious point of view, however, there is nothing to speak against it. The Director of the Vatican Observatory, Guy Consolmagno, believes that extraterrestrial life is possible. “We do not know.…
Even more than before the fire, the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is a glamorous setting for festive ceremonies. The Parisian Cardinal Vingt-Trois has now also been laid to rest here. Paris and France bid farewell to Cardinal André Vingt-Trois on Wednesday. The former Archbishop of Paris died on Friday at the age of 82…
What’s next for the Druze in Syria? This is the focus of the talks in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan. The violence against fellow believers in Suweida, Syria, is causing fear and anger. In the south-west Syrian province of Suweida, there has been fierce violence between Bedouins, who are supported by Syrian government troops,…
The Pope went on holiday for a good two weeks. A holiday? Not quite. Leo XIV did move to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. But numerous appointments interfered with the planned holiday. Now he is back in the Vatican. Well arrived! Pope Leo XIV is back home. The head of the Catholic Church…
No liturgical blessings for queer couples: the Archdiocese of Cologne will not use a handout on this and refers to Roman guidelines. Not everyone likes that. The Archdiocese of Cologne will not be using the recently published handout “Blessings for couples who love each other”. As a spokesperson for the archdiocese told katholisch.de on Tuesday,…
He hopes to “strengthen body and mind” in Castel Gandolfo, said Pope Leo when he started his holiday a fortnight ago. But his holiday in the Albanian mountains is not very tranquil – no wonder given the world situation. Switching off, my arse: On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas joined the ranks of statesmen who…
In the Catholic Church, efforts are being made to increase the active participation of the faithful. In the diocese of Augsburg, a new body is to be set up in the autumn as part of this process. Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg wants to appoint a “Synodal Team” to implement reform efforts in the Catholic…
Souvenir shops in Rome are a goldmine, especially in the Holy Year of the Catholic Church. But beware when buying rosaries, papal medals and the like: counterfeiters don’t stop at the holy gates. Holy Year in fake mode: Since the opening of the Catholic Church’s great feast year on 24 December 2024, 24 million counterfeit…