Category: World Report

Texas bans prison chaplains from execution chambers

The state of Texas has banned all prison chaplains from its execution chamber, following a Supreme Court decision that halted the execution of a Buddhist man who was denied the presence of his chaplain. Patrick Murphy had been scheduled to die last Thursday. Mr Murphy requested access to a Buddhist minister a month before his…

Sharp decline in Australian Catholic population

Australia’s Catholic population fell by 2.7% between 2011 and 2016, but Catholics are more likely to have a higher education, according to an analysis of census data by the National Centre for Pastoral Research. Analysing statistics from the country’s 2016 census, the centre reported on April 4 in its ‘Social Profile of the Catholic Community…

Vatican Roundup

Pope
 Francis 
to
 celebrate
 Holy
 Thursday
 with 
prisoners
 Pope Francis will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper with prisoners in Velletri, about 36 miles south of Rome. The Pope will celebrate the Mass and the foot-washing ritual at the Velletri Correctional Facility on April 18, the Vatican announced last week. The late-afternoon visit will include a meeting with prisoners,…

Pray with courage, Pope says in morning homily

Christians must be courageous when praying to God and not simply repeat prayers “like a parrot”, Pope Francis has said. “In common parlance, people use an expression that I really like when they have a goal: ‘I put it all on the line’. In intercessory prayers, this also applies: ‘I put it all on the…