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…
Category: World Report
US shooting was ‘night filled with unspeakable terror’
The President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed his sorrow at the news of the most lethal mass shooting the US has seen. A gunman killed over 50 people and hospitalised 400 in an attack on people attending a country western gig in Las Vegas last weekend. The suspect, Stephen Paddock (64),…
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…
St . Nicholas bones discovered claim archaeologists
Turkish archaeologists claim to have found the bones of St Nicholas underneath a Church at his birthplace in southern Turkey according to the Associated Press. St Nicholas, whose generosity is believed to have inspired the traditional model of Santa Claus, was born and served as a bishop of what is now the Turkish Mediterranean town…
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…









Austen Ivereigh
