The Diocese of Rouen, France will mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of Fr Jacques Hamel with a Mass and procession at the local church on Sunday. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen and Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the French bishops’ conference, will be present, according to local media. French Minister…
Historic manuscripts get a modern Vatican treatment A revamped website for the Vatican Apostolic Library brings modern technology to the study of historic manuscripts. “We are the Pope’s librarians because the library is his and has been open by his desire for many centuries,” Msgr Cesare Pasini, library prefect, told Vatican News. “So, we want to be…
After lockdown, Italy’s bishops seek new ways to engage parishioners Italy’s bishops will need to help their communities participate more in parish life and return to taking part in the sacraments in ways that continue to respect evolving measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to their conference leadership. When Masses were once…
The vocations crisis is not a legitimate reason for supressing a parish, the Vatican has warned in a new set of rules on renewing parish and diocesan life. It said that non-legitimate reasons for closing a parish include a priest shortage and financial troubles in the diocese, as well as any other reason that is…
Several Catholic bishops in Nigeria’s state of Oyo asked the federal and state governments to consider opening schools and churches closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bishops from six dioceses in and around the city of Ibadan said the closure of schools had increased crimes such as rape and other gender-based violence, especially…
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, retired prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, has died at the age of 80. A close collaborator with Pope St John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI, the cardinal also spent almost 27 years working in the Apostolic Signature, the Church’s highest court. In a condolence message, Pope Francis said…
Three Catholic-run hospitals providing life-saving services free of charge to vulnerable Syrians hope to aid some 50,000 patients by the project’s end next year. “Institutions in Syria now are having a lot of difficulties…so, this project supporting these hospitals is helping them to go on,” said Flavia Chevallard, project coordinator for Operation Open Hospitals in…
Vatican recognises ‘rogue’ exorcist group A Vatican-recognised group of exorcists has issued a new handbook for practitioners of the Church’s ritual to combat demonic possession, among other things insisting that authority to perform exorcisms belongs exclusively to priests assigned by their diocesan bishop and no one else. According to figures from the group, the move comes…
Summit pushes for Church finance reform Broad reforms that would contribute to greater accountability and transparency regarding Church finances are needed to address the financial crisis the Church faces and is intensifying because of the coronavirus pandemic, said a report emerging from a winter summit of lay, religious and clergy leaders. The report assembled by…
A Hungarian Christian Democrat member of the European Parliament has warned that growing secularism is to blame for Europe’s silence on human rights violations against religious minorities. As the parliament debated the 2019 human rights annual report, György Hölvényi MEP insisted that “if Europe, guided by extreme secularism, is silent on violations against religious minorities,…