A Nigerian government official said June 9 that the insurgent group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is suspected as the perpetrator of a massacre at a Catholic church last week that left dozens dead. “We have been able to see the footprint of ISWAP in the horrendous attack in Owo and we are after…
Bishops in South Korea have moved ahead to pursue the canonisation of 81 Catholics, including priests, religious and laypeople who were martyred by communist forces during the Korean War. The Special Episcopal Commission to Promote Beatification and Canonisation held its closing session June 7 for preliminary examination of 81 Servants of God, the title accorded…
Pope urges Sicilian priests to be moral guides but to ‘drop the lace’ Pope Francis told priests and bishops from the Italian island of Sicily June 9 to be strong moral guides, and to update their art and vestments in conformity with Church reforms. “In Sicily, people still look to priests as spiritual and moral…
The Vatican and a local Catholic bishop responded on Sunday to an attack on a church in Nigeria in which at least 50 people are believed to have been killed. The massacre took place during a Pentecost Sunday Mass at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in southwestern Nigeria. A video posted on Twitter…
The Vatican announced June 2 that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Robert Barron to lead the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. Barron, who runs the popular Catholic media apostolate Word on Fire, has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles since 2015. He will succeed Bishop John Quinn, who submitted his resignation to…
Thousands of pilgrims from across Uganda and neighbouring countries converged on Namugongo, a Kampala suburb, after walking for days to join the country’s annual Martyrs Day observance. The day is observed June 3 at Namugongo Shrine, built on the site where 45 people, including 22 Catholics, were burned to death on orders of the king…
Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb permanently reopened to public Visitors to Assisi can once again see Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be beatified in the Catholic Church, dressed in jeans and tennis shoes through a viewing glass on his tomb. Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino removed the panel covering Bl. Acutis’ tomb on June 1, reopening…
Pope Francis sent a congratulatory message to Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday coinciding with the United Kingdom’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of her reign. “On this joyful occasion of your Majesty’s birthday, and as you celebrate this Platinum Jubilee year, I send cordial greetings and good wishes, together with the renewed assurance of my…
Kenya’s Catholic bishops joined other religious leaders in calling upon the country’s politicians to ensure the forthcoming general elections, scheduled for August 9, are free, fair and peaceful. The prelates said they recognised “that myriad developments could emerge that could hinder peaceful, free, fair and credible elections. Let us all pray and call upon God”.…
Vatican finance trial highlights pressure to finalise London deal The deal to acquire control of a London investment property was finalised under intense “psychological pressure,” according to Fabrizio Tirabassi, a lay official at the Secretariat of State who was questioned during a Vatican finance trial hearing on May 31. Enrico Crasso, a longtime investment manager…