Category: World Report

Vatican Roundup

New US ambassador to the Holy See US President Donald Trump has nominated Callista Gingrich to be his ambassador to the Holy See. She will face several challenges representing the US in the Vatican, particularly following Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement, while Pope Francis has made clear that care for the environment…

Vatican fights for peace in Venezuela

Pope Francis and the Vatican have “tried very hard” to find a solution that’s “peaceful and democratic” in Venezuela. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, told Italian media the Vatican wanted to “help all without destruction”. On Sunday a referendum was held to elect a body to re-write Venezuela’s constitution, a matter which has…

The parents of critically-ill Charlie Gard drop case

Following the decision of Charlie Gard’s parents to end the legal battle for their critically-ill child to be flown to the US, Catholic Bishops in the UK expressed their sympathy. For almost half a year the baby’s parents fought to have him transferred to the US to undergo specialist treatment. They decided not to continue,…

US bishops call for protections for young migrants

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the Trump administration to “ensure permanent protection” for young people brought to the US as minors without legal documentation. Chair of the Migration Committee, Bishop Joe Vasquez of Texas, reiterated the bishops’ support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012 policy which gives recipients a…

African archbishops praises Zambian women

Catholic women in Zambia have been described as the “heartbeat” of parishes by the President of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishop Mpundu thanked women for their active role in the Church, saying: “Women are the heartbeat of our parishes and the church in general, without them, the Church would be dead.” He spoke…

Vatican Roundup

Pope Francis responds to nine-year-old’s pilgrimage invitation An Italian boy called Andrea invited the Pope to join him and other children on a “Pilgrimage of Joy” to the Marian Shrine of Loreto Italy. The nine-year-old was so moved by his experience that he asked the Pontiff to join him next year. Pope Francis replied: “Thanks…

Gaining from an endless papal honeymoon

Right now, as Inés San Martín reports in this week’s International Analysis (facing) there’s a fascinating drama unfolding in the Diocese of Ahiara in Nigeria, where Pope Francis has thrown down one of the most authoritarian gauntlets we’ve seen any Pope fling in a long time. He’s threatened every priest of the diocese, no matter…

Answers from a troubled diocese

Inés San Martín Days after time ran out for the priests of an entire Nigerian diocese to write and apologise for having refused to accept their bishop for the past five years, Pope Francis, through some of his closest advisers, has begun to respond to each of them. “The Pope promised he would write back,…