Campaigns by the ethnic Gorkha people for a separate homeland in the Darjeeling area of eastern India are based in real grievances, according to the local Church. The area has witnessed violent clashes since June 8, and although Darjeeling’s Bishop Stephen Lepcha said: “The Church is not directly involved in the protest,” he has added,…
Recognising that “all people are born with inherent equal dignity and worth and have a fundamental right to life” is at the heart of human rights, the Vatican’s UN nuncio has said. Speaking to Latin American leaders at the Organisation of American States’ general assembly, Archbishop Bernardito Auza voiced concerns over how “the right to…
The reported desecration of a Catholic chapel in the Philippines by terrorist gunmen has been condemned “in the strongest terms possible” by Cotabato’s Cardinal Orlando Quevedo. About 300 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, an ISIS-affiliated group known as BIFF, attacked Pigcawayan town on June 21, displacing about 1,700 people and destroying religious images…
Zambia’s president is guilty of intimidating opponents and silencing the media, according to the head of the Zambian Catholic bishops’ conference and other religious leaders in the east African country. Describing the country as being at a crossroads as it faces “many challenges related to governance, the muzzling of people’s freedoms and human rights violations”,…
Pope Francis is first of all a shepherd who makes seeking out the lost and forgotten his top priority. But he also knows that wherever he goes, the cameras and news coverage will follow. He leveraged his pull on the media spotlight early in his papacy when he went to Lampedusa for his very first…
Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the responsibility of the international community to address poverty and hunger worldwide. In the meeting on June 17 in the Vatican, they discussed the G20 meeting in Hamburg, climate change and the threats of global terrorism. A statement released by the Vatican said: “Special remembrance was reserved…
The Vatican has released an online questionnaire for young people in preparation for the Synod of Bishops on youth in 2018. The survey aims to better understand the lives, attitudes and concerns of young men and women aged 16-29 around the world. The answers to the questionnaire will provide the basis for a working document…
Church agencies are helping London Catholic school students cope with the trauma of the Grenfell Tower fire. With pupils confirmed missing and the death toll rising the tragedy devastated the local community. John Paul Morrison, the Director of Education for the Archdiocese of Westminster, said the archdiocese was offering counselling to students. “What they have…
Pope Francis expressed his “closeness” to the people of Portugal after deadly forest fires killed over 60 people. After reciting the Marian prayer last Sunday in St Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned the disaster, which occurred in the south-east of Coimbra. Three days of national mourning were declared after a severe heatwave, with temperatures in…
The Catholic Church in Southern Africa will celebrate 200 years of existence for a whole year beginning this month. An inaugural Mass of Thanksgiving will be held in Cape Town’s St Mary’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt on June 25, which will begin the celebrations. On June 7, 1818, Pope Pius…