Scotland has reported its second-highest annual abortion figure on record. Public Health Scotland announced on August 25 that 13,583 abortions were performed in 2019, with a termination rate of 13.2 per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44. Last year’s figure is the highest since 2008 and represents an increase of 297 from 2018 when…
Category: World Report
Mother Teresa birthday celebrations cancelled due to Covid-19
The Missionaries of Charity cancelled their customary birthday celebrations for their founder, Mother Teresa, this year after nine religious sisters tested positive for Covid-19. Wednesday marked the 110th birthday of Saint Mother Teresa, who died in 1997. Among other celebrations, the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, which houses the saint’s tomb, was forced to…
Australian and English bishops discuss morality of vaccine
More bishops are pleading with their governments to give priority to ethically developed coronavirus vaccines, but many also are telling Catholics that not getting vaccinated is a more serious moral problem than using the problematic vaccines. Australia is among many governments trying to secure access to a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford…
Vatican Roundup
John Paul I Foundation names scientific committee The newly-formed Vatican John Paul I Foundation released a statement on Wednesday which states that on the 42nd anniversary of Pope John Paul I’s pontificate, they are pleased to communicate the members of the Foundation’s Scientific Committee. These persons were appointed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State…
In Brief
Argentine bishop warns priests to distribute Holy Communion in the hand The Bishop of San Rafael, Argentina, warned last week that he will impose canonical sanctions on priests who distribute Communion on the tongue during the coronavirus pandemic, in defiance of a diocesan directive permitting the distribution of Communion only in the hand. Bishop Eduardo…
Turkey turns second historic Istanbul church into mosque
A month after the former cathedral Hagia Sophia was converted from a museum into a mosque, another Istanbul church-museum, renowned for its exquisite Byzantine mosaics, will undergo the same transformation. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has ordered that the 700-year-old Chora Church – currently the Kariye Museum – be turned into a fully functioning mosque.…
Nuncio and bishops call on Nigeria to protect its citizens
Archbishop Antonio Filipazzi, Papal ambassador to Nigeria, has said the government was not doing enough to protect its citizens from violence, insurgents and other social vices. He also said the people being killed were not just Christians, but also Muslims. Speaking at a news conference as part of the finale of year-long celebrations of the…
Catholic archbishop prays outside of prison for detained Belarusian protestors
The archbishop of Minsk prayed outside of a prison in Belarus where detained protesters were reported to have been tortured. With a rosary in his hands, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz [pictured] walked the streets in front of the Akrestsin Street pre-trial detention centre at 3pm on August 19, reported the website of the Catholic Church in…
Colombian bishops pray for peace following 13 murders
The Colombian Bishops’ Conference appealed for peace following two brutal massacres of young people last week in the country. In a statement, the bishops expressed their “deep grief and concern” over the killings. “We pray to God for the victims and we express our closeness and solidarity with their families, the inhabitants of the cities…
Rare discoveries shed light on secret Catholic life in Tudor house
A restoration project at a country house in Norfolk, England has uncovered items that shed new light on the steadfast faith of a Catholic family in the wake of the English Reformation. The discoveries include a fragment of a 15th-Century illuminated manuscript found by a builder in the eaves of Oxburgh Hall, a moated manor…