With a month to go before the start of the Synod of Bishops for Amazon, retired Bishop Erwin Krautler of Xingu said the Brazilian government should not fear the discussions to be held in Rome. “The synod is for and by the bishops. Discussions will involve Church issues, not sovereign state issues,” Bishop Krautler said…
Long-time Vatican official dies age 96 Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a long-time Vatican official and papal envoy who was sent to some of the world’s most wounded and challenging places, died in France on September 4. He was 96. The French cardinal also played key roles in ecumenical relations, including with the late Orthodox Patriarch Alexy…
Hungarian Church to set up abuse prevention system Hungary’s Catholic Church says those anyone “proven” to have abused minors has “no place in the priesthood”. In a statement released last Thursday, the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference said the country’s Church is setting up a permanent system for reporting mistreatment or sexual abuse by people in…
Pope Francis has announced he will create 13 new cardinals on October 5, choosing prelates from 13 different nations as a sign of “the missionary vocation of the Church that continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all men and women of the earth”. Cardinal-designate Jesuit Fr Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Section…
Colombia’s bishops have said “weapons and violence only generate destruction”, after leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced “a new stage of fighting”. The announcement came three years after a peace agreement was signed by the government of Juan Manuel Santos and Colombia’s main rebel group. The members of the Marxist guerrilla…
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said all religions and their leaders must own up to extremist activities within their faith and examine which of their traditional teachings enable extremists to commit evil. Archbishop Justin Welby, the figurehead of the worldwide Anglican Church, told interfaith leaders in Sri Lanka that accepting responsibility is key rather than…
The Archdiocese of Xalapa in Mexico has called for peace after a massacre at a night club in the town of Coatzacoalcos claimed 26 lives last Tuesday. It has been reported that 10 women and 16 men died in the attack, and 11 more people were injured. The local press said that a group of…
Catholic bishops in South Sudan have praised the recent peace agreement for neighbouring Sudan, which has experienced political turmoil since April, when the military ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. “Our hearts went out for Sudan during the period under which the country was facing the turmoil. Actually we are still Sudanese; we share the common…
Italian cardinal and diplomat dies age 95 Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, former prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches and a long-time Vatican diplomat, died at his home in the Vatican on August 29 at the age of 95. Cardinal Silvestrini served in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See in Rome and abroad for nearly…
Two bishops ordained in China after agreement The ordination of Bishop Anthony Yao Shun of Jining in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region was the first episcopal ordination in the country following the provisional agreement signed in 2018 between China and the Vatican. The ordination was “the first to take place in the framework of the…