Some 400 people attended, Germany’s Third Ecumenical Convention in Frankfurt including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that concluded May 16, but Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, head of the Catholic bishops’ commission on ecumenical relations, told the website katholisch.de that he could not see that the convention gave a particular boost to ecumenism. In terms of…
The newly appointed bishop of Hong Kong gave a press conference Tuesday in which he said he believed that prudence and dialogue were a way forward in the challenges facing his diocese. Bishop-elect Stephen Chow Sau-yan told journalists May 18 that he did not think it would be wise to comment on especially controversial issues,…
The Spanish bishops’ conference expressed concern that migrants were being used to exert political pressure after a sudden influx of migrants in the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla increased tensions between Spain and Morocco. In a statement released May 18, Auxiliary Bishop José Cobo of Madrid, head of the conference’s migration department, and Dominican…
The High Court in Mumbai order prison authorities to take an ailing 84-year-old Jesuit to the hospital, as it heard his appeal to receive bail on medical grounds, Indian media reported. The High Court said Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy must be taken to JJ hospital at noon May 20. Media reports said the court ordered…
Blood of martyrs slain by ISIS ‘a seed that will bear rich fruit’ Pope Francis has said that the blood of 21 martyrs killed by ISIS on a Libyan beach in 2015 is “a seed that will bear rich fruit for Christian unity”. In a May 10 letter to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II,…
Judge sets bail of $1.6 million for Italian broker A UK judge has set a bail of $1.6 million for Gianluigi Torzi, the businessman who helped to broker the Vatican’s controversial purchase of a London investment property. Judge Paul Goldspring ordered the broker to put up the sum because he feared that Mr Torzi was…
Prayer is not a magic wand or a way to ask God to be at one’s service, Pope Francis said
World-famous conservationist Dr Jane Goodall was announced Thursday May 20 the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Templeton Prize. She is the first ethologist and fourth woman to win the prestigious award, worth over $1.5 million (€1.2 million). Considered a leading expert in chimpanzees, Dr Goodall joins Mother Teresa, the first recipient of the award, and…
As more Europeans are vaccinated and coronavirus cases continue to decrease, organisers of the upcoming 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, are optimistic that pilgrims will be able attend the event in September in person rather than online. At a news conference in Budapest May 13, the organisers told journalists they are preparing for an “offline…
Catholic officials in India are working to help citizens get help during the second wave of Covid-19 and the accompanying lockdown. “Our priority now is to save as many lives as possible,” Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur told ucanews.com. He said with movements restricted, the archdiocese is reaching out to as many people as…
Ruadhán Jones