After the Vatican Secretariat of State missed a November 1 deadline to hand over the management and monitoring of its own assets to two separate Vatican bodies, Pope Francis set up a commission to make the transfer and external oversight happen. The Pope established the commission, whose mandate went into effect “immediately,” during a November…
A lawyer for Msgr Mauro Carlino downplayed the suspended Vatican official’s involvement in a controversial London property deal, saying that his role was limited and ultimately benefited the Secretariat of State by saving five million euros. MsgrCarlino was secretary to Cardinal Angelo Becciu when he was “sostituto,” or the second-ranking official, at the Secretariat of…
A Catholic bishop in Belarus accused President Alexander Lukashenko of “insult and slander” after the government official charged the Church’s exiled leader with planning to “destroy the country” and called for a bar on foreign clergy. Auxiliary Bishop YuryKasabutski of Minsk said in social media post November 3 that he believed President Lukashenko’s words about…
Louisiana voters by a wide margin November 3 passed a measure declaring there is no state constitutional right to abortion, while Colorado voters defeated a proposal to ban abortion beginning at 22 weeks of pregnancy. Unofficial results show that the Louisiana measure, known as the Love Life Amendment, passed 62.1% to 37.9%. It will add…
Covid-19: Vatican Museums, Pontifical Villas close again to public A statement issued by the Holy See Press Office November 4 said the Vatican Museums will be closed to the public from November 5 to December 3, in compliance with the Italian government’s latest anti-Covid regulations. The statement also said that, due to the current health…
US Supreme Court looks for compromise in Catholic foster care case The Supreme Court, now with a full bench, seemed willing to find a compromise during November 4 arguments about a Catholic social service agency shut out from Philadelphia’s foster care program for not accepting same-sex couples as foster parents. In the case, which pits…
Cardinal Christian Tumi, who was kidnapped by gunmen on the evening of November 5 in Cameroon, has been freed. “Glory be to God. Cardinal Tumi has been freed by the Separatist fighters. He is fine and in good health,” Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo diocese announced on the afternoon of November 6. The 90-year-old archbishop…
As France begins its second lockdown this year, French bishops are filing an urgent appeal to continue public Masses, arguing that the most recent coronavirus restrictions “violate freedom of worship”. The French bishops’ conference announced Monday night that it would file a “référé liberté” with the Council of State regarding the lockdown decree issued last week. This…
Guatemala’s president has said he will block US abortion provider Planned Parenthood from setting up an office in the country. This week he denounced the group, saying it promoted abortion. “I am a faithful defender of life and I am emphatic in indicating that in my government I will not endorse the creation, registration or…
French police have arrested six men in their investigation into last Thursday’s attack on the Basilica of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption in Nice. Among those in police custody is a 29-year-old Tunisian man believed to have accompanied the alleged attacker, Brahim Issaoui, from Tunisia to the Italian island of Lampedusa on September 20, Agence France-Presse reported on November…