Pope Francis has said he was “very saddened” by the destruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral, but was grateful the bravery of shown in extinguishing the flames. While greeting a group of French pilgrims at the weekly general audience, the Pope expressed his “affection and closeness” to the people of France following the devastating April…
Before the crowd at an April 10 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Senator Ted Cruz, displayed a billboard containing a tweet quoting St Teresa of Kolkata: “Abortion is profoundly anti-woman. Three quarters of its victims are women: half the babies and all the mothers.” Alongside the quote was a picture…
A new website aims to make available to Catholics and researchers a collection of photographs of the Shroud of Turin by a scientific photographer who was part of a research project that spent more than 100 hours conducting tests on the shroud. The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth 4.4m long by 1.1m, which shows the…
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has ruled an abortion ban in the country to be unconstitutional, receiving mixed responses from Korean citizens. Seven of the nine justices on the court voted to repeal the law on April 11, ordering it to be revised by 2020. Two of the justices dissented. The law, which was established in…
Catholic and Orthodox leaders have condemned the bulldozing of memorial crosses at a site of communist-era mass executions. Media reports said at least 15 protesters were arrested in early April when police cordoned off an area of the Kuropaty Forest, outside Minsk in Belarus and bulldozers moved in to demolish about 70 15-foot crosses, which…
Pope kneels and begs before Sudanese leaders At the end of a highly unusual spiritual retreat for the political leaders of warring factions, Pope Francis knelt at the feet of the leaders of South Sudan, begging them to give peace a chance and to be worthy “fathers of the nation”. “As a brother, I ask you to remain in peace. I…
Indian Lenten campaign tackles malnutrition A Lenten campaign spearheaded by Caritas India is fighting chronic malnutrition in the country. The Catholic charity launched its nationwide campaign for this year’s Lent, a seven-week period culminating in Easter Sunday on April 21, with the theme ‘Nutrition our right – Unite for a healthy India’. “It is an effort…
After the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris April 15, Romans and tourists could not help looking at St Peter’s Basilica and wondering, “what if?” But Maj. Paolo De Angelis, head of the Vatican fire department, told the Italian news agency ANSA on April 16 that the structural differences between Notre Dame and…
Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul reiterated the Church’s stance on abortion after South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that the country’s abortion ban is unconstitutional. The country’s top court called on April 11 for a legislative change to partially allow a mother to choose to terminate a pregnancy in its early stages. While some women’s…
At the end of a highly unusual spiritual retreat for the political leaders of warring factions, Pope Francis knelt at the feet of the leaders of South Sudan, begging them to give peace a chance and to be worthy “fathers of the nation.” “As a brother, I ask you to remain in peace. I ask…