Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Vatican News reported. While the Vatican press office issued no statement regarding Cardinal Parolin’s September 22 meeting, the Russian foreign ministry tweeted a video of the two officials shaking hands and exchanging…
The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has expelled the Religious Sisters of the Cross, thus continuing its attacks against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. “Today, victims of the harassment and threats of the dictatorship, the Religious Sisters of the Cross (founded in Mexico) who had been in Matagalpa for years doing spiritual work…
In the aftermath of the fire that gutted a church in Cameroon, Bishop Aloysius Fondong of the Diocese of Mamfé entered the ruins to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament and found the sacred Hosts and the ciborium containing them to be intact. On the night of September 16, armed men set fire to St Mary’s church…
Strong education key to ‘better world,’ cardinal tells UN summit During a UN education summit, the Vatican’s secretary of state reiterated Pope Francis’ pre-pandemic call that education is “one of the most effective ways of making our work and history more human”. Addressing the final day of the Transforming Education Summit September 19, Cardinal Pietro…
In open defiance of the Vatican, Catholic bishops in Belgium September 20 announced the introduction of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in their dioceses. The bishops of Flanders also published a liturgy for the celebration of homosexual unions. “In doing so, they are going directly against the Vatican,” reported Nederlands Dagblad. The Vatican published an official clarification in March…
A senior Russian priest dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war as “just words,” but said many young Catholics now fear being forcibly conscripted with their priests to join the war against Ukraine. “Although I’m not a military person, I don’t think the Russian army could even use nuclear weapons – and if it…
Editor says renewal of Vatican agreement with China on the horizon As the October deadline approaches for the extension of the Vatican’s agreement with the Chinese government, the newly appointed editor of the news agency of the Dicastery for Evangelisation said the deal has been instrumental in allowing Catholics to practice their faith openly and…
Three bishops of Pakistan dioceses most affected by recent deadly monsoon flooding appealed for more funding for emergency food, repairing damaged homes and providing medical needs for the worst-hit victims in their provinces. The South Asian country has been hit hard by record floods caused by monsoon rains and glacial melting since the rainy season…
Cuban dictatorship expels Jesuit’s superior The Cuban dictatorship has expelled Fr David Pantaleón, who served as superior of the Jesuits, from the island by not renewing his residency permit. “On the morning of Tuesday, September 13, Fr David Pantaleón, superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, left the island because his residency permit was not renewed,”…
A unanimous ruling by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans blocking the Biden administration’s transgender mandate “is a major victory for conscience rights and compassionate medical care in America,” said the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the case. “Doctors cannot do their jobs and comply with the Hippocratic oath if…