The Vatican decreed that priests can celebrate as many as four Masses on several important feast days, including Christmas, to accommodate the participation of the Faithful. Worldwide In a decree published in Latin December 16, Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the decision was made “in…
Hungary’s Parliament passed a law December 15 defining the family as having a woman as the mother and a man as the father, effectively banning adoptions by same-sex couples and complicating adoptions by single people. The change is the latest of several to be made in recent years in what the government has said are…
Catholic bishops in northeast Italy have said that the risk of illness amid the ongoing pandemic constitutes a “grave necessity” permitting priests to confer the Sacrament of Reconciliation under the “third form,” also called general absolution, before and during the Christmas season. General absolution is a form of the Sacrament of Reconciliation which may be…
Toddlers could hardly contain their excitement as they danced in the church aisles to the Holy Missionary Choir’s Christmas songs during a celebration that was a bright star of hope for Iraqi Syriac Catholic refugee families. While the little ones are too young to know their ancestral roots, Christmas memories for their parents are those…
Art teacher defends Vatican’s much-maligned nativity scene Since it was unveiled last Friday, the Vatican’s nativity scene in St Peter’s Square has elicited diverse reactions on social media, many of them strongly negative. “So the Vatican presepe has been unveiled….turns out 2020 could get worse…” wrote art historian Elizabeth Lev in a post that went viral on…
Religious schools must accept ‘gender identity’, LGBT activists tell Biden A leading LGBT activist group is calling for the Biden administration to create accreditation regulations of religious schools that would enforce acceptance of so-called transgender rights. The pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued its list of policy priorities for the incoming Biden administration, The Daily…
Benedict XVI has not lost his voice says Archbishop Gänswein Archbishop Georg Gänswein has denied media reports that Benedict XVI has lost his voice. The Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress reported December 4 that Benedict XVI’s personal secretary had confirmed that the 93-year-old Pope emeritus was still able to speak clearly. Reports had circulated in…
The Vatican announced December 7 that Pope Francis will travel to Iraq in March 2021. He will be the first Pope to ever visit the country, which is still recovering from the devastation inflicted by the Islamic State. The four-day papal trip to Iraq March 5-8 will include stops in Baghdad, Erbil and Mosul. It…
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered an investigation into the forced conversion of women and girls from the country’s religious minorities, drawing praise from Christian aid groups. Christian Concern International Christian Concern, a group that advocates for persecuted Christians, said December 3 that many of the victims of forced marriages in Pakistan are minors,…
The Catholic leaders of the Holy Land are demanding an investigation into an attempted arson attack at a basilica located near the Garden of Gethsemane. The Basilica of the Agony, located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem next to the Garden of Gethsemane, is also known as the Church of All Nations. It houses…