A top Catholic humanitarian group has expressed concern for the tens of thousands of Iraqis displaced inside their country and dependent on assistance, because access to them has become severely restricted due to Covid-19. “The government in the northern Kurdish area of Iraq has been very careful and restrictive (with regard to measures to tackle…
The former head of the Vatican’s finances, who spent 405 days in jail before the quashing of his child sexual abuse convictions, has said that “God-fearers” were better able to deal with evil and suffering than atheists. In an Easter message Cardinal George Pell, 78, said he knew that God was with him throughout his…
Bishop Gary Gordon of Victoria, British Columbia said the priest who volunteered to remain with inmates has a deep and long commitment to prison ministry. The Bishop said, for privacy reasons, he would not reveal the name or location of the priest in question. “He offered to go there and live in the institution 24-7,”…
A missionary priest has expressed his “joy” and “surprise” after a video was released showing that his brother, who was kidnapped in 2018, is still alive. Fr Walter Maccalli was relieved after discovering the news from watching a 23-second video showing his sibling, Fr Pierluigi Maccalli, and another man last week. The priest told Catholic…
The Church in Tanzania is keeping its doors open while the rest of world closes places of worship to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Thousands of people are turning up for public Masses after a presidential directive stated churches and mosques could remain open so people could seek refuge, according to Church sources. Other…
A cloister of nuns in Bangladesh is asking God to provide consolation to the sick, doctors, nurses, volunteers and all those fighting the coronavirus every hour of the day. The Poor Clares are engaged in a continuous prayer, 24 hours a day, for the world to overcome the Covid-19 crisis, according to Mother Mary Rose,…
Pope sets up commission to study women deacons A new commission which will look into the possibility of having women deacons in the Church was instituted by Pope Francis last week. The Holy See released an announcement in their daily noon bulletin which contained the information that the Pope had decided to create a new…
Chinese Catholics provide food to Covid-19 hit Flippinos More than €75,000 was collected by Catholics in China and donated to the Philippines to buy rice and other food for the poor in Manila. Many of those in the slum area of the city are jobless, with no income and hungry due to a government-imposed lockdown…
One of the Church’s most senior members has walked free from prison in Australia after the country’s High Court decided to quash his child sex abuse conviction this week. Cardinal George Pell, 78, was acquitted of sexually assaulting two teenage choirboys in the 1990s, allowing him to be released from jail on April 7. The…
More than half of adults in the US say they have prayed for an end to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, according to a new survey. Pew Research Center, who surveyed 11,537 US adults, said that a large number of Americans who pray daily (86%) and US Christians (73%) have taken to prayer during the outbreak.…