Despite goals to end global hunger by 2030, the latest report from the UN shows the number of undernourished people has increased rapidly. The number of people lacking adequate food on the planet increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’…

Vatican diplomat embroiled in child pornography case A member of the Vatican diplomatic corps serving in Washington has been recalled to the Vatican as he is involved in a criminal investigation regarding child pornography, the Vatican said. The Vatican was informed by the US State Department “of a possible violation of laws relating to child…

Belgium’s Brothers of Charity Group, which runs 15 centres for psychiatric patients, has rejected a Vatican order to stop offering euthanasia. The organisation said that it “always took into account shifts and evolutions within society”, and “emphatically believed” its euthanasia program was consistent with the doctrine of the Catholic Church. “We take unbearable and hopeless…

The UK’s Labour party are creating a new group in order to reach out to the country’s Catholics. Nine MPs are launching a ‘Catholics for Labour’ group this Sunday which will focus on social justice and will be guided by Catholic social teaching. Labour politician Mike Kane MP, currently shadow schools minister, said there are…

Technology-savvy priests are unlikely to put away their smartphones any time soon, despite advice from the Vatican’s liturgy chief. Speaking in Rome’s Angelicum University last week, Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah warned that while it may be practical and convenient to pray the daily prayer of the Church on mobile phones or other electronic devices, doing…

As the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) worsens Catholic aid workers are helping hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people escaping deadly violence. Bangladesh is bracing for a massive humanitarian crisis because of a lack of food, sanitation, medicines and even basic housing following the exodus of as many as 350,000 Rohingya into…

Pope Francis returned from his trip to Columbia this week after a busy schedule covering five days. During his South American trip millions of people arrived to witness his prayers of peace and unity. There was a welcoming ceremony on the day of his arrival in the late afternoon of Wednesday, September 6, followed by…

China has signed off on revised religious regulations which will lead to greater government control of religions in the communist-run country. The State Administration for Religious Affairs announced that the leading Chinese Communist Party (CCP) signed the State Council order for the newly revised Regulations for Religious Affairs (RRA) which will be implemented on February…

US Catholics have  condemned comments made by Donald’s Trump’s ex-Chief Strategist Steve Bannon who said the Church only supports migrants to fill churches, with a New York cardinal dubbing them “preposterous”. Mr Bannon criticised the Church’s decision to oppose ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, saying they are “unable to come to…

Pope increases liturgical translation powers of bishops In changes to the Code of Canon Law regarding translations of the Mass and other liturgical texts, Pope Francis has shifted more responsibility to local bishops’ conferences. The document released by the Vatican, Magnum Principium, noted the sometimes tense relationship between bishops’ conferences and the Congregation for Divine Worship…