Citing “alarming concerns” related to an ongoing investigation, Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto has joined bishops from other dioceses across Canada in withholding funds from the overseas development agency of the Canadian bishops’ conference. At least eight dioceses have suspended financial support to Development and Peace following preliminary results of a probe that found some…
The father of a 23-month old boy who has been at the centre of a life support battle privately met with the Pope today, pleading for “asylum” in Italy so that his ill son may receive alternative medical care, rather than be euthanised. Tom Evans and his partner, Kate James, are battling with Alder Hey…
Making the sign of the cross is to mark ourselves as Christians, and it is something we should do often to remind ourselves that we belong to God, Pope Francis said today. “The cross is the badge that shows who we are: our speaking, thinking, looking, working [we are] under the sign of the cross,…
Pope Francis has apologised for underestimating the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis in Chile following a recent investigation into allegations concerning Osorno’s Bishop Juan Barros. In a letter to the country’s bishops, the Pope said he made “serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to a lack of truthful…
The Mexican bishops’ conference criticised US President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border and issued a strong defence of migrants, saying the Catholic Church could not stand by “in the face of suffering by our brother migrants as they seek better conditions”. The letter, addressed to people in Mexico,…
Grieving people gathered at a hockey arena in Canada for an interfaith service to mourn 15 people who died after the bus carrying the town’s junior hockey team collided with a truck. “I don’t want to be here, but it’s good that we are,” said the Rev. Sean Brandow, the Humboldt Broncos team chaplain and…
After months of investigation, Vatican police have arrested a former staff member at the Vatican nunciature in Washington on charges related to the possession and distribution of images of child abuse. The Vatican said that Msgr Carlo Alberto Capella was taken into custody by the Vatican gendarmes at the request of Vatican City State’s promoter…
Parents who prefer not to baptise their children in the hopes that they will ask for baptism as adults are lacking in Faith, Pope Francis has said. While some believe that there is no need to “baptise a child that does not understand” the meaning of the sacrament, the Pope said doing so would deny…
The recent kidnapping of a Congolese priest illustrates some of the problems the Church has faced during the African nation’s prolonged conflict. Fr Celestin Ngango of St Paul Karambi Parish in the Diocese of Goma was kidnapped by armed men on April 1. He was leaving a parish after celebrating Easter Mass when the abductors…
A pair of passion plays were interrupted by gunfire on Good Friday as the violence convulsing Mexico continued claiming lives through the Holy Week holidays. An annual procession in Acapulco was suspended after the sound of gunshots sent participants and spectators fleeing, according to local press reports. The Guerrero state government said police were chasing…