A Maronite archbishop in Syria narrowly escaped death by just a few seconds when a shell crashed through his bed as he was preparing for a nap. In an email to supporters Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus said priests cried when they saw him emerge from the ruins. “Providence watches over his poor servant,” the…

Even as their numbers continue to decline in most jurisdictions, nuns, as in cloistered contemplatives, and religious sisters in the active congregations, continue to attract, bemuse, fascinate, confound and even repel observers from both within and outside the Catholic orbit. Various documentaries on the ‘religious’ calling of women by the BBC and other networks, the…

Vatican Roundup   Pastors who preach one thing and do another are wounded and harm the Church, Pope Francis said. Like the scribes and Pharisees of old, pastors end up leading a double life when they detach themselves from God and his people, the Pope said during morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. “Jesus…

Vatican Roundup   Pope Francis has said the silence that precedes the opening prayer at Mass is an opportunity for Christians to commend to God the fate of the Church and the world. Departing from his prepared text at his weekly General Audience, the Pope urged priests “to observe this brief silence and not hurry”.…

Letter from Rome   Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, gave a talk at Notre Dame’s Global Gateway facility in Rome addressed to ecumenical and inter-faith experts, which laid out the Church’s post-Vatican II approach to ecumenism and the new directions the press to bring Christians together is getting…

Vatican Roundup   The difficulties accepting Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia are probably connected to accepting the new attitude and approach to providing pastoral care according to the Vatican Secretary of State. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the Pope’s exhortation on the family “flowed from a new paradigm that Pope Francis is pursuing with wisdom, with…

Nations must find peaceful ways to deal with conflict, because everyone has the right to life and liberty, Pope Francis told diplomats accredited to the Vatican while outlining the need for disarmament and dialogue. The Pope called for debate on the stockpiling of weapons and conflict resolution that “avoids polarising the international community” in his…

Church leaders in the Congo have condemned security forces’ attacks on Catholic protestors that have left at least eight people dead and 120 detained. The Vatican Embassy in Kinshasa backed local church officials, saying that “the promotion of social justice and the defence of political and civil rights of citizens are an integral part of…

Seven bishops have responded to bishops’ conferences that issued guidelines that foresee the possibility of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics returning to the Sacraments in some circumstances. The norms and guidelines are the bishops’ responses to Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. Archbishop Tomash Peta and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider  of Astana and retired Archbishop…

Catholic agencies in the US have been struggling to keep vulnerable people warm as a spate of brutally cold weather envelops the eastern two-thirds of the country. Temperatures plunged to -15C in some places. From Montana to Florida and Texas to Maine homeless shelters opened additional hours to shield people from frosty Arctic winds, which…