Church agencies have rallied together to help more than half-a-million people in dire need after a cyclone hit Southern Africa last week. It’s estimated that at least 1,000 people have died in Cyclone Idai which hit Mozambique on March 15, making landfall near the port city of Beira on Thursday with winds of up to…
Category: World Report
Pope and New Zealand bishops hold Muslims in prayer after attacks
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have expressed horror and distress at a terrorist attack in two mosques in Christchurch that saw at least 50 people killed. The shootings took place at or near the Al Noor Mosque, where 41 people were killed, and at the Linwood Mosque, where seven were killed. One more person subsequently died…
European justice groups urge action as EU elections loom
Catholic justice and peace commissions have called for greater attention to social justice across the EU, urging political leaders to take steps to curb food waste, arms exports and multinational abuses. The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions said a “new and comprehensive European regional development policy” was needed to better serve the common…
German Church must tackle ‘blocked thinking’
The Church in Germany is at a point where serious debate – including on priestly celibacy and the role of women – and openness to doing things in a new way must encouraged, said the president of the German bishops’ conference. “Shakeups demand special proceedings,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx said at the end of the bishops’…
Big differencing between considering and leaving Church – researcher
The headlines from a Gallup Poll about the growing number of US Catholics who have thought about leaving the Church because of the clergy abuse crisis did not faze one researcher of Catholic data too much. “There is a substantial difference between considering leaving and leaving. It is also the case among those who do…
Vatican Roundup
Argentine bishops urge Pope to visit homeland In a letter commemorating the sixth anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, the bishops of Argentina said they will ask the Pope to visit his homeland. “In our next meeting with him, we will propose once again that he does not deprive himself of the joy of visiting us,” the Argentine bishops said in statement…
Pope rejects cardinal’s resignation
French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon said Pope Francis would not accept his resignation following his conviction for covering up clerical sexual abuse, so he has decided to step aside temporarily for the good of the archdiocese. The cardinal had met Pope Francis on March 18 to hand in his resignation after a French court…
African youth networks urges: listen to young people on ecology
The head of an African youth network urged the world’s religions to embrace the voices of young people, as the leaders explore ways to tackle the current global ecological crisis. Allen Ottaro, founder and executive director of the Catholic Youth Network for Environment Sustainability for Africa, said young people were aware of the current realities…
Controversial Belgian cardinal dies aged 85
Junno Arocho Esteves Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, retired archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, died March 14 at the age of 85. Pope Francis expressed his condolences to Cardinal Danneels’ family, and the Belgian faithful and praised the late prelate’s zeal for the Church, especially during the Synod of Bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015.…
Papal prayers for victims of Ethiopian plane crash
Pope Francis has offered prayers for the 157 people killed in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday last, which included a priest, a religious sister and four staff members with Catholic Relief Services. A telegram from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that “His Holiness Pope Francis offers prayers for the deceased…