The Catholic Diocese of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has issued preventive measures to all Catholic parishes and communities following the declaration of an Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever outbreak as a “health emergency.” In a communiqué issued May 18, the chancellor of the diocese said Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele had directed that…
Pope Leo XIV called Monday for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit, issuing a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as the technology impacts everything from work to war. Magnifica humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), Leo’s first encyclical, has been eagerly awaited ever since history’s first…
Israel’s finance minister wants to evict the Bedouins from Khan al-Ahmar. Human rights activists fear this will have repercussions across the entire occupied West Bank. And they warn that it could spell the end of the two-state solution. Israeli activists are sounding the alarm following the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that…
20.01 – BELFAST: The Clonard Youth and Young Adult Ministry’s Tuesday night walking group were back on the Belfast streets last week. The group set off from Clonard and making their way through Millfield, Donegal Street, the Cathedral Quarter, over to the Big Fish, across the bridge to the Ormeau Embankment, up onto the Ormeau…
In the weeks leading up to Easter, dioceses and media outlets latched onto the high numbers of people set to become fully initiated into the faith in certain places to declare a sort of “Catholic revival,” which, according to one expert, isn’t exactly happening. “For example, I’ve heard how the Archdiocese of Newark has doubled…
On May 12, the French Senate rejected for the second time the assisted suicide bill under debate, with the leader of the conservative party calling for a referendum on the issue to avoid it being approved without the Senate’s approval. The National Assembly – France’s lower house – had already approved the bill twice, but…
President Donald Trump and several top administration officials joined with a cast of mostly conservative Christian clergy on Sunday at the National Mall in Washington for a prayer gathering billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God” upon America’s 250th birthday. Some critics called the Rededicate 250 event an effort to…
On May 13 the Vatican issued a final warning to a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that their planned consecrations of bishops without papal consent constitutes a schismatic act that incurs automatic excommunication. Pope Leo XIV is praying for enlightenment so that the leaders of the Society of St Pius X “may reconsider the extremely…
Pope Leo XIV visited Rome’s public La Sapienza University on May 14, the largest university in Europe and one of Italy’s most prestigious academic institutions, where he denounced the “great lie” he said is causing anxiety and depression among young people. Speaking in the university’s Aula Magna after a brief moment of prayer in the…
A Pope’s first encyclical is traditionally awaited with great anticipation – and this is now the case for Leo XIV as well. Church historian Jörg Ernesti explains what makes these particular doctrinal writings so special. Monday is the day: Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical will be published. And he will even present his encyclical, entitled…
Renata Steffens