Category: World Report

UK bishops discuss Brexit with EU officials

Bishops from England and Wales met representatives from EU institutions to address issues and key concerns for the Church regarding Brexit. Bishop Nicholas Hudson led the delegation which discussed the importance of upholding human rights in trade deals, prisoner transfer rights, the North of Ireland and its border issues with the Republic of Ireland. They…

Church condemns ‘deplorable’ Catalonia referendum violence

Spanish bishops have dubbed the government’s use of violence to stop a disputed referendum “deplorable” after hundreds of people were injured by riot police. More than 800 people were injured and many detained after the regional government of Spain’s Catalonia region attempted to hold an independence referendum. Catalan officials claimed that 90% of the votes…

Vatican Roundup

Pope to focus on ‘fake news’ Given the strong divisions sparked and fueled by “fake news,” Pope Francis is highlighting the importance of truth in his message for World Communications Day. The message will call for studying the causes and consequences of baseless information and will promote “professional journalism”, which always seeks the truth and…

Pope reappoints critic to Apostolic Signatura

Pope Francis has reappointed Cardinal Raymond Burke to the Vatican’s highest judicial authority three years after he removed him from the position. Cardinal Burke will once again lead the Church’s supreme tribunal as a member of the Apostolic Signatura, despite having been a prominent critic of the Pope’s Amoris Laetitia. The cardinal previously said he…

Persecuted Iraqi Christians must return as full citizens

Christians don’t want to be a “protected minority” in the Middle East, they must be full citizens with full rights said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. The return of Christians to Iraq’s Ninevah Plain “must be the first and urgent objective of our efforts,” the cardinal said. “That will allow the Christian community…

Anti-government pastor faces 20 years

A Zimbabwean pastor has been arrested and put on trial due to allegations of him attempting to subvert the government. Fr Evan Mawarire, a prominent critic of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, was arrested as he stepped down from his pulpit on charges that could see him imprisoned for 20 years. The state has accused him…

Francis in the lions’ den

It is not hard to guess why the Vatican’s communications supremo, Monsignor Dario Viganò, thought it was a good idea for Pope Francis to have 12 meetings with a French atheist sociologist over much of 2016. The Catholic Church’s commentariat can be an echo chamber, and Francis needs to reach out beyond its walls. Dominique…

Politicians should encourage acceptance of migrants

Cindy Wooden   Politics as service to the common good and the need to create spaces where citizens and migrants can meet and overcome fear were topics Pope Francis repeatedly returned to. Arriving in Bologna at mid-morning this week, Pope Francis went directly to the “Regional Hub”, a government-run processing centre for migrants, refugees and…