Pope saddened by Catholics who despise others God did not choose perfect people to form his Church, but rather sinners who have experienced his love and forgiveness, Pope Francis has said. The Gospel of Luke’s account of Jesus forgiving the sinful woman shows how his actions went against the general mentality of his time, a…

In the wake of Saturday’s carnage in Charlottesville, Virginia, it’s clearer than ever that American society desperately needs help on race. The Catholic Church has unique resources to deploy, but it can’t afford to allow its own African-American community and leadership to remain “invisible”, as one African-American bishop recently described it. It’s not as if…

A man in Caracas, Venezuela, walks past graffi ti that reads, ‘Down with Trump…rot’. Photo: CNS

Pilgrims dressed in traditional clothing are greeted by Pope Francis during his weekly audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. Photo CNS

One of US President Donald Trump’s leading Evangelical advisors has asked to meet Pope Francis to discuss a controversial article in a Vatican-approved Italian journal which sharply criticised some trends in Catholic-Evangelical relations. An article in La Civiltà Cattolica last month expressed the view that some American Catholics and Evangelicals are forming a political alliance…

The Knights of St Columbus will send €1.7m for Christians displaced from their homes by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq. In 2014, the Islamic State removed hundreds of families of religious minorities from their homes in Karamdes, a mostly Christian town on the Ninevah Plain in Iraq. Two years later the town was liberated.…

Venezuela’s government has ignored the Vatican’s call to suspend the formation of a new Constituent Assembly, a body tasked with re-writing the country’s constitution. The motion to elect the body, which is capable of overriding the powers of all other government branches, was passed after a referendum last Sunday. This week the UN human rights…

Pope Francis is expected to focus on improving the troubles of about a million Rohingya Muslims when he visits Myanmar (Burma) in the last week of November. The Vatican has acknowledged a possible trip is being studied, but it has said it is too early to confirm. The visit is expected to be announced officially…

A giant robotic spider perched near Notre Dame Cathedral in Canada has drawn shock and criticism from Catholics – to the disappointment of the archbishop. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said he was surprised by the negative reaction to an artistic initiative after critics called the mechanical spider’s placement “sacrilegious”, “demonic” and “disrespectful” of a sacred space.…

Organised criminals face excommunication A consultation group for the Vatican will consider using excommunication as a weapon against organised crime and corruption. The Mafia and other criminal organisations could be thrown out of the Church if proposals published last week by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development are followed. The group proposes the…