Zambia’s president is guilty of intimidating opponents and silencing the media, according to the head of the Zambian Catholic bishops’ conference and other religious leaders in the east African country. Describing the country as being at a crossroads as it faces “many challenges related to governance, the muzzling of people’s freedoms and human rights violations”,…
Pope Francis is first of all a shepherd who makes seeking out the lost and forgotten his top priority. But he also knows that wherever he goes, the cameras and news coverage will follow. He leveraged his pull on the media spotlight early in his papacy when he went to Lampedusa for his very first…
The Catholic Church in Southern Africa will celebrate 200 years of existence for a whole year beginning this month. An inaugural Mass of Thanksgiving will be held in Cape Town’s St Mary’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt on June 25, which will begin the celebrations. On June 7, 1818, Pope Pius…
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, along with several religious leaders, has condemned the attack on Muslims in London this week. A white van was driven into a group of people who had just left the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, killing one man and injuring up to 10. A 47-year-old man was detained by people at…
A Catholic nun has been charged with abducting tribal girls for religious conversion in India. Sr Beena Joseph, a member of the Carmelite Sisters of St Teresa congregation, was on her way to the Madhya Pradesh state capital of Bhopal from the eastern state of Jharkhand along with four tribal girls. She was accused of taking…
Weeks into Ramadan, authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have punished at least 100 ethnic minority Muslims for breaking the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling. The party have put restrictions on observance of the religious fasting month, an exile group said. Since Muslims in China began observing dawn-to-dusk fasting and other restrictions last month the…
Italian police have found the relic of St John Bosco which was stolen earlier this month. The relic of the saint’s brain was discovered in a copper teapot in a kitchen cupboard last week. The alleged perpetrator of the crime is a 42-year old man with a criminal record, residing in Pirenolo, Turin. He was…
Controversy has arisen over the nomination of an Anglican professor – who agrees with abortion in certain circumstances – to the Pontifical Academy for Life. The academy is against abortion and is committed to involving increasing numbers of people in the defence of human life according to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the academy president. Critics have…
Dozens of priests from Indonesia have quit their posts after accusing a bishop of embezzling $100,000 (€89,000) of church funds for personal use. Almost 70 priests from the Catholic island Flores, in the Reuteng Diocese, submitted letters of resignation after demanding that Bishop Hubertus Leteng complies with a complete change of how the diocese is…
Twenty-four students from 18 countries graduated from Rome’s Jesuit university last week, and will return to their dioceses to strengthen or kick-start child protection policies. The graduates studied in the Centre for Child Protection’s intensive programme at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The ceremony, at the Gregorian University, included a panel discussion with five post-doctoral students…