US priest faces charges of having images of child abuse A Catholic priest is facing charges of possessing images of child abuse following his arrest at a suburban Cleveland parish. Fr Robert McWilliams, 39, was being held on $100,000 bond in Cuyahoga County Jail, a day after he was taken into custody at St Joseph…
British bishops have made the right to life a priority for Catholics ahead of a general election in which two major political parties have promised to liberalise abortion laws. A statement from the bishops of England and Wales put the right to life at the top of a list of key issues they want Catholic…
The village of Dien Thinh bid farewell last week to two of its sons, victims of a human trafficking tragedy unveiled last month when the bodies of 39 Vietnamese were discovered in a truck in England. Coffins with the bodies of cousins Nguyen Van Hung and Hoang Van Tiep were carried to the village’s Trung…
Most Americans support life imprisonment over the death penalty, according to a Gallup poll, revealing a shift in the majority opinion on this issue for the first time in 34 years. The poll, based on results from telephone interviews conducted in October with a random sample of 1,526 adults in the US, showed 60% prefer…
Two Catholic priests have been convicted of sexually abusing students at an institute that cared for deaf children. The priests have been sentenced to more than 40 years in an Argentine prison. Their victims say one abuser should have been stopped seven years before his arrest, when he was accused of abusing children at a school…
Human rights groups have voiced concern over the arrest of a Coptic Christian activist in Egypt, on terrorism-related charges. Critics argue the arrest is an attempt to silence those who disagree with the government. Ramy Kamel, founder of the human rights organisation Maspero Youth Union, was arrested on Saturday by seven police officers. He faced…
Pope advances sainthood cause of Canadian bishop Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Bishop Ovide Charlebois – a Canadian Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate who ministered to First Nations peoples and migrant workers scattered throughout the vast, lake-covered province of Manitoba. The Pope recognized the Quebec native, who lived from 1862 to 1933,…
Priest defends decision to deny judge Holy Communion The Church in western Michigan is defending a priest’s decision to deny Holy Communion to a judge in a same-sex marriage. Judge Sara Smolenski says Fr Scott Nolan privately informed her on about a week after receiving Communion from him at St Stephen Church in East Grand…
The Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life has announced it is setting up a specialised team of young Catholic leaders as advisers. The new international advisory body was established following a proposal in the final document of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment. The Vatican made the announcement…
Pro-government mobs have besieged another Nicaraguan parish, further inflaming tensions between the Catholic Church and President Daniel Ortega, whose Sandinista regime is targeting dissidents and attempting to stamp out dissent. Lat week, Ortega supporters tried to enter St John the Baptist Parish in Masaya, south of Managua, the capital, forcing churchgoers to barricade the doors…