A child receives medical attention after being aff ected by tear gas during clashes at a July 9 protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government in Caracas. The country’s bishops have warned that the government is attempting to establish a military dictatorship. Photo: CNS

The US and Russia have a distorted global vision, Pope Francis has said, warning that an alliance between the two could be dangerous for the world’s poorest and weakest. Interviewed by the Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari for Repubblica against the background of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, the Pope reportedly said: “I fear there are…

A prelate accused of abuse should not be allowed to return to head his diocese regardless of the outcome of his Vatican trial, the bishop currently running the diocese has said. Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes of Agana in the US territory of Guam has said it would be “a disaster” if  Archbishop Anthony Apuron were…

US Bishops have criticised the execution of a man who was said to be mentally ill. William Morva was executed in Virginia, after being convicted of killing a hospital security guard and a sheriff’s deputy after escaping from custody several years ago. He was killed by lethal injection last week, causing the Virginia Catholic Conference…

European and American bishops have called for all nations to develop a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from their military arsenals. A joint declaration from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions called upon the US and European nations to work with other nations to “map out…

Church officials have expressed disappointment over the refusal of the government of Myanmar to grant visas to three members of a UN fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights abuses by security forces against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Bishop Alexander Pyone Cho of Pyay, in Rakhine state on the country’s western coast, said he…

Former Church watchdog challenges papal dismissal Cardinal Gerhard Müller has criticised as “unacceptable” how Pope Francis dismissed him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF). Speaking to the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, the cardinal said it was only on the last working day of his five-year term as head of…

Last Saturday, Romans awoke to find a provocative image staring out from their neighbourhood newsstands. On the cover of the latest issue of the magazine Millennium, published by the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, was a traditional depiction of St Sebastian with arrows protruding from his body, but with the head of the Pope, under the…

Even as the fate of the baby Charlie Gard again hangs in the balance there is healthy discussion and disagreement about his tragic case among Catholics who might normally agree on other matters. Yet I want to suggest that, despite these differences, we share a common concern. But first, I struggle to grasp how some…

Refugee organisations have expressed concern for how the US travel ban will effect refugees in transit and those who are refused entry into the country. Donald Trump’s strict immigration laws have been watered down since they were first announced, but the US Supreme Court has implemented a partial ban which will come into effect today…