Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based confederation of 165 national Catholic charities, has expressed sadness and outrage over incidents of child abuse by a Belgian Salesian priest who had been the national director of Caritas in the Central African Republic. Caritas Internationalis in Rome released a written statement the same day CNN published an investigative report outlining…
The Church in Kerala is hoping to help widows in India – who often suffer from social stigmas – through its new matchmaking website. The Family Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council has launched prolifemarry.com. The website will help match individuals hoping to marry. One of its major goals is to help widowed women,…
A church located on the outskirts of Bolivia’s capital city became an improvised morgue following another deadly day of protests in the South American country. Fr Gechi Revelin of St Francis Parish in El Alto said protesters started to bring corpses into his small church last week following intense clashes between Bolivia’s military and supporters…
Calls made for arrest of bishop accused of abuse A criminal prosecutor in Argentina has requested the arrest of Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who is accused of sexually abusing two seminarians. Bishop Zanchetta is suspended from a position at the Vatican’s central bank, where he was appointed an ‘assessor’ by Pope Francis in 2017. He is…
French mayor apologises over nun garb ‘blunder’ An elderly nun in France has received an apology from a French mayor after retirement home staff wrongly rejected her, citing a strict ban on religious garb and “ostentatious” signs of religion. The rules would have barred the nun from wearing her religious habit and veil at the…
Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified on December 21, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria announced late Monday. He said the Vatican had just notified him of the beatification and he was announcing the news “with great joy and thanksgiving”. Plans for the beatification are already underway, the bishop said. The ceremony will be at 10am…
Pope Francis has told students never to be afraid of their desire for truth and never settle for mediocrity. He encouraged them to live with open hearts and minds, and not just stick with the predominant mindset in a world that believes diversity is conflict. “May you feel a healthy ambition to add something original…
Tensions are reportedly running high between French authorities overseeing the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, as they create plans to rebuild the church damaged by fire earlier this year. Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin and the architect on the project, Philippe Villeneuve, disagree over whether the cathedral’s new spire should look modern or medieval, the…
Belgian bishops criticise proposed abortion measures Belgium’s Catholic bishops have criticised legislation to liberalise abortion by extending the right to 18 weeks’ gestation with just 48 hours of obligatory reflection. The bishops said the proposed measures would change the meaning of abortion by making it a “normal medical procedure” and that the changes had not…
The Bolivian bishops have urged an end to the vandalism that has taken place following the resignation of president Evo Morales on Sunday. Supporters of Morales have clashed with police in several cities. In a November 10 message, the bishops’ conference, along with several civic groups, encouraged “Bolivians to peace and to not commit acts…