Vatican diplomat criticises ‘divisive’ UN report on Islamophobia A Vatican diplomat has expressed dismay at “the narrow scope” of a United Nations Human Rights Council report into the persecution of people of faith. Addressing the 46th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, March 4, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, Permanent Observer to the UN…

Kenyan bishops urge uptake of Covid-19 vaccines Days after a Catholic doctors’ association urged Kenyans to shun Covid-19 vaccines, the country’s bishops have told the citizens to accept the inoculations. The bishops said it was licit and ethically acceptable to receive all the vaccines the government recognised as clinically genuine, safe and effective. They also…

Catholic clergy in France perpetrated more than three times as many sexual abuse offenses than previously thought, said the head of a bishops’ commission whose report is due out in September. Jean-Marc Sauvé, 71, a lay Catholic and head of the French Institute of Administrative Sciences, presented new data from the Independent Commission of Sexual…

The Canadian bishops’ conference announced last Thursday that after a review of organisations that receive project funding from their international development agency, it will discontinue 24 partnerships over concerns about compatibility with Church teaching. The Canadian bishops and the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada reviewed the CCODP’s international partner organisations…

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop emeritus of Washington DC who stepped down in 2018 amid scandal, received over $2 million from the archdiocese last year for unspecified “ministry activities” an investigation has found. A March 3 examination of the archdiocese’s financial records by The Pillar found that Cardinal Wuerl was allocated $2,012,639 for “continuing ministry activities”…

Catholic bishops said the Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating an already grave imbalance in living conditions and opportunities, alongside an “unbridled race to exploit hydrocarbons” in its parks and nature reserves. “We are concerned about a degradation of the political discourse that threatens a collapse in the national unity, reconciliation, justice and peace, which have been…

Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar es Salaam told Catholic News Service it was time for the country to accept that Covid-19 exists, noting that denying the truth has led to loss of lives and a lot of people getting sick. “Covid-19 is still with us and we should stop being careless,” he said. “Let…

Pope appeals for end to violence in Myanmar Pope Francis appealed for an end to deadly violence against protesters in Myanmar, calling on the military junta to free political prisoners and let dialogue and the journey toward democracy prevail. Appealing to those now ruling the nation – the government was overthrown in a military coup…

Bishops address concern over Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s abortion link Use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, approved February 27 by the US Food and Drug Administration, raises moral concerns because it “was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines”, the chairmen of two US bishops’ committees said March 2. The bishops…