A five-year-old British girl, whose parents won a legal battle to take her to Italy for medical treatment, has been moved out of intensive care, and into a rehabilitative unit for children with incurable illnesses. Tafida Raqeeb was transferred to the Galini Children’s Hospital in Genoa from the Royal London Hospital, where she had been…
Spanish Church leaders have voiced concern for their country’s future after the government pledged to legalise euthanasia, secularise education and strip the Church of “improper assets”. “Spain faces a critical situation, a true emergency for our future,” Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera of Valencia told Catholics in a pastoral letter. He asked that special prayers and…
Pope prays for Ukrainian plane crash victims Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the souls of the 176 passengers of a Ukrainian International Airlines flight, who died when the plane crashed near Tehran, Iran last week. The crash took place on January 8, approximately 10 minutes after the plane took off from Imam Khomeini…
Mexican priest hospitalised after being shot four times A Mexican priest who had been kidnapped is in hospital in serious condition after having been discovered on the side of a highway with four gunshot wounds. Fr Roly Candelario Piña Camacho, a Piarist priest from the Diocese of Tlaxcala, was found wounded on the side of…
Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako, responding to a US drone attack in Baghdad that killed Iran’s top general, said “wisdom is required to avoid the ‘volcanic eruption’ we are about to face.” Speaking during the Epiphany Mass in Baghdad, he said the current crisis resulted from the “upsetting escalation, as well as the emotional and…
The Vatican has dramatically over-ruled a British bishop’s decision to close a parish church. Bishop Peter Brignall had originally told parishioners in Conwy, north Wales that he was forced to close the church due to a shortage of priests to minister in the Diocese of Wrexham. The last Mass was celebrated at St Michael and…
Iraqis fear their country, already weary from years of war, may be dragged into a conflict between the United States and Iran, following the US-targeted killing in Baghdad of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani. “We prayed during the days of Christmas for peace on earth, and the timing of this revenge from America creates in…
As some of the worst wildfires in Australian history rage across four states, thousands of people in affected areas in New South Wales and Victoria continue to be evacuated to safety. Soaring temperatures, often higher than 100°F (37.8°C), and a protracted drought have contributed to an unprecedented national emergency which, by Christmas, had already seen…
Burmese Cardinal Muang Bo has signed an open letter condemning police brutality in Hong Kong over the Christmas holidays. “We have been horrified to see reports of police firing teargas, pepper-spray and rubber bullets at close-range at shoppers, peaceful protesters and innocent by-standers on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and again on Saturday, December…
An English cardinal has condemned “all expressions of hatred” after anti-Semitic graffiti was daubed across shops, cafes and a synagogue in London. Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster denounced the December 29 attacks, which coincided with the Jewish religious festival of Hanukkah. “The recent anti-Semitic graffiti in north London brings shame to us all,” said the…