Australian Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty on five charges related to serious sexual misconduct involving two boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s. Cardinal Pell is expected to appeal the conviction. Sources said Cardinal Pell pleaded not guilty to all charges but was found guilty on December 11 by a…
The Vatican has said that while there are no immediate plans to add new members to the C9, Pope Francis has released the three eldest cardinals from the duties of the advisory group. Papal spokesman Greg Burke told journalists in a briefing last week that the Pope has sent letters to Cardinal George Pell, Cardinal…
The bells of every Catholic Church in Strasbourg rang for 10 minutes last week to honour the victims of a terror attack at a Christmas market the previous day. On December 11, a shooter opened fire on the crowd, killing three people and injuring 12 others. Police said Cherif Chekatt (29), presumably linked to radical…
A Pakistani official announced this week a new ‘Minorities Empowerment Package’ and the creation of a task force to ensure the rights of religious minorities in the province of Punjab. According to the Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs, Ijaz Augustine, the package will include new legislation and implement existing laws to assist…
A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police have said. The shooting occurred just as parishioners from Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral in Campinas, near Sao Paulo, were leaving a midday Mass. “I conducted the Mass at 12.15, at the…
Be a voice for society’s unwanted Pope tells media Catholic media have a responsibility to be “spiritual antennas” that connect the world to the sufferings of the poor and the unwanted in society, especially prisoners on death row, Pope Francis has said. During an audience with journalists and collaborators of Telepace, an Italian Catholic television and radio station, the Pope encouraged them to…
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has performed a U-turn and will now file a complaint against religious sisters who have been accused of embezzling from a Catholic school at which they had worked for more than a decade. Sr Mary Margaret Kreuper CSJ and Sr Lana Chang CSJ, who both retired this year from St…
Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit prayed for the country on December 7, even as the French government dropped all fuel tax increases for 2019. The government move came after French cities were hit with weeks of violent protests, as French people demanded lower fuel taxes and better purchasing power. Images of rampage at the Arc de…
Catholic tribal leaders in India are worried over a move by Jharkhand’s government to take away tribal status from people who have left their traditional Sarna religion to join other faiths. The eastern state’s move will deprive thousands of tribal people of social benefits meant for their advancement. “It is a deliberate attempt to divide tribal people…
Pope Francis approved a new set of laws concerning the structure and governance of Vatican City State in an effort to simplify the many offices and activities of the world’s smallest nation and to boost oversight, transparency and budgetary controls. The measures were issued ‘motu proprio’, on the Pope’s own accord. The Pope said the…