A Catholic university professor’s tweets that white Republican men should die a “miserable death” for supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court are more than just about free speech, the head of Students for Life of America has warned. “Recommending violence, death and mutilation for members of Congress is not a simple ‘free…

Cardinal: damage of abuse scandal caused by Church leadership, not media The days of making “weak excuses” in response to the sexual abuse crisis are over, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising has warned. The fallout and damage that has resulted, he added, “has not been caused by the press doing their job…

The Catholic Church needs to communicate the beauty and intelligence of Faith to young men and women without resorting to condescending and aggressive methods, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles told members of the Synod of Bishops. A “renewed apologetics and catechesis” can help young people who are tempted to leave the Church due…

Signalling his belief that the Church faces a serious crisis, Pope Francis asked every Catholic in the world to pray for the protection of the Church from attacks by the devil, and also for the Church to to be stronger in combatting abuse. Pope Francis asked Catholics to pray the rosary each day in October,…

Catholics will continue to regard sex outside marriage as a sin despite India’s Supreme Court ruling that adultery will no longer be a crime, Church leaders say. The country’s top court has struck down a 158-year-old British-era law which said it was a crime, punishable with a five-year jail term, for a man to have…

Be 
open 
to 
the 
good, 
regardless
 of 
origin 
–
 Pope Pope Francis has advised people to be open to the good, regardless of whether it comes from someone outside their own “circle”. The Pope reflected, during his Angelus address in St Peter’s Square, September 30, on the day’s Gospel, in which Christ taught his disciples humility and to avoid scandal. When the disciples objected…

Pope Francis has expelled from the priesthood a Chilean who gained notoriety for sexually abusing young men in his parish. The Vatican announced that Fernando Karadima was dismissed from the clerical state by the Pope, who “made this exceptional decision in conscience and for the good of the Church”. Citing canon law, the Vatican said…

Courtney Grogan   Pope Francis began the Synod on young people today with a homily calling for the Holy Spirit to renew hope and dynamism in the Church. Hope can “broaden our horizons, expand our hearts and transform those frames of mind that today paralyse, separate and alienate us from young people,” said Pope Francis.…

Due to its impact on young Catholics in Africa, fundamentalism will be a topic that bishops from East Africa prioritize in their talks with other delegates during the synod’s intervention sessions. More than 300 delegates, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, sisters and laypeople are expected to attend the Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops, which will meet…