The Catholic bishops of Florida praised the state Legislature for passing a measure to prohibit most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. H.B. 5 also includes provisions to improve infant health and analyse and reduce foetal and infant mortality. “While we continue to look forward to the day when the full protection of unborn life is…
As Catholic officials in Tigray continue to call for meaningful peace talks and an end to atrocities and the humanitarian aid blockade, an international refugee organisation is warning that Eritrean refugees in the northern region have nowhere to run. Refugees International, a global organisation advocating for displaced and stateless people, said in a report released…
Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on Friday, March 4, after an Argentine court found him guilty of sexually abusing seminarians. Bishop Zanchetta, 58, pleaded not guilty to the charge of “aggravated continued simple sexual abuse committed by a recognised minister of religion” on February 21. He was…
The chairman of the German Catholic bishops’ conference has called for changes to Church teaching on sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. In an interview with the German magazine Bunte published on March 4, Bishop Georg Bätzing agreed with the journalist’s assertion that “no one” adhered to the Church’s teaching that sexuality should only be practiced within…
Pope Francis to visit Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in July, the Vatican has announced. The Holy See press office said March 3 that the Pope would visit the African nations July 2-7, “at the invitation of their respective heads of…
Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in July, the Vatican announced on Thursday. The Holy See press office said March 3 that the Pope would visit the African nations July 2-7, “at the invitation of their respective heads of state and bishops”. He will spend July 2-5 in the…
The national flags of Ukraine and Poland are held by nuns in St Peter’s Square as Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking the square at the Vatican February 27, 2022. Photo: CNS Pope Francis appealed on Sunday for an end to the Ukraine conflict. In his first direct public…
The president of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, rejected the February 22 Constitutional Court’s decision to depenalise abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. “We are facing a decision that concerns the entire Colombian society and five people cannot propose something as atrocious to a nation as allowing a life to be interrupted up to six…
An estimated 5.2 million children in 21 countries, including the United States, lost at least one parent, a custodial grandparent or a primary caregiver to Covid-19 during the first 20 months of the pandemic, social researchers and child well-being advocates said in a new study. Notably, the researchers estimated that the number of children orphaned…
Spanish bishops announce clerical abuse investigation In an about-face, the Spanish bishops’ conference announced that it has hired a law firm to conduct a yearlong investigation into clerical sexual abuse in the country. At a news conference in Madrid February 24, Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, said the…