Faith communities in Nigeria face daily violence and persecution, a US-based rights group said. It called for US intervention after a terrorist group executed five men abducted while providing assistance in northeastern Nigeria. While Christians, particularly preachers, “are clearly the targets” of militants in the West African country, Muslims are killed too, said Archbishop Matthew…
Cardinal Michael Czerny has voiced support for a German abbess facing trial for sheltering refugees. The cardinal said that Mother Mechthild Thurmer, a Benedictine nun, was in keeping with “a long tradition of Christians living their Faith to the final consequence”. Mother Mechthild is facing trial in Bamberg, Germany, for offering refuge on 30 occasions…
Spotlight needed on abuse in women’s orders – Jesuit journal The abuse occurring within women’s religious orders deserves more attention from the media and must be remedied, said an influential Jesuit journal. Novices and women religious, especially those who have been assigned to a country where they don’t know the language, can be particularly vulnerable to abuses…
Pope Benedict ‘very unwell’ since trip to Germany Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is sick with a bacterial infection and “very frail”, according to a German newspaper report. Citing Benedict biographer Peter Seewald, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) reported on Monday (August 3) that the 93-year-old Pope emeritus is suffering from facial erysipelas, a bacterial…
As Hagia Sophia opened for Muslim prayers on Friday for the first time in 86 years, a leading Asian cardinal said that the decision to turn the building back into a mosque will reopen wounds and intensify divisions. In a statement sent via email on July 24, Cardinal Charles Bo said that he was grieved…
Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, a Catholic who led several regional peace mediation efforts, has died. He was 81. Tanzanian President John Magufuli said Mkapa had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, where he died on July 24. Magufuli urged the people to remain calm, united and peaceful as they mourned…
Pope Francis has exhorted young people to reach out in tenderness to the elderly amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic. “In the memory of Ss Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, I would like to invite young people to make a gesture of tenderness towards the elderly, especially the most lonely ones in…
Sr Ruth Lewis, also known as the Mother Teresa of Pakistan, died on 20 July, a victim of the coronavirus. She contracted the virus after making the decision to personally care for 21 infected residents of the Dar ul Sukhun home (House of Peace), which she co-founded in 1969. Known across Pakistan as the ‘Mother…
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…