Catholic World News Headlines
Papal message for Communion and Liberation gathering
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has written a message in Pope Francis’s name on the occasion of Communion and Liberation’s annual gathering in Rimini,...
German priestly ordinations fall to record low
Only 58 men were ordained in Germany in 2015-- down from 500 in 1965 and 122 in 2005, and a record low, according to a CNA report. The number of new seminarians also fell to a record low of 96 in...
Sisters of Charity file $50M suit against hospital system
The Sisters of Charity have filed a $50 million suit against a Columbia, South Carolina, hospital system, according to a local newspaper report. The sisters, who once owned a hospital in the...
New leader of Chemin Neuf community
The leadership of the Chemin Neuf community has passed from its founder to a close collaborator. Father Laurent Fabre, a French Jesuit, founded the Catholic ecumenical community in 1973 with the...
Wisconsin parish defaced with swastika
A Catholic parish in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was defaced with a swastika on the night of August 17. The words “black lives matter” were also painted on the doors of St....
Italian bishop raps French 'burkini' ban
The secretary-general of the Italian bishops' conference has criticized the ban on the Islamic "burkini" at beaches in France. "The fear around Islamic clothing seems to...
Australian Church leaders plan Synod for 2020
Catholic Church leaders in Australia are planning a nationwide Synod for 2020. "We asked the Pope for his approval to celebrate a local assembly," reported Archbishop Mark Coleridge of...
Muslims outnumber Christians among refugees entering US
Among the refugees who have entered the US in this year, 46% are Muslims, the Pew Research Center reports. For the first time since the US began keeping track of refugees' religious...
Pope plans another visit to Assisi in September
Pope Francis, who made a personal pilgrimage to Assisi earlier this month, plans another trip to the birthplace of St. Francis in September. The Vatican has announced that the Holy Father will...
Annual seminar for former Ratzinger students scheduled for August 26-28
The "Ratzinger Schuelerkreis," the annual gathering of former students of Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, will be held August 26- 28, at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Each...
Rome's homeless enjoy beach outings, pizza at Pope's expense
About 100 of Rome's homeless people have enjoyed trips to the beach as the guests of Pope Francis, the papal almoner has revealed. Archbishop Konrad Krajewski disclosed that he has taken...
Chinese priests, facing requirement to register, concerned about Vatican-Beijing talks
As reports proliferate about an imminent agreement between the Vatican and Beijing, a Catholic priest of the "underground" Church reports to the AsiaNews service that Chinese priests...
Obama administration to issue transgender rules for homeless shelters
The Obama administration is poised to issue regulations requiring homeless shelters to accommodate transgendered individuals according to their declared gender identity rather than their natural...
New Philadelphia mayor sought additional $4M reimbursement for papal visit
In May, the administration of Philadelphia’s new mayor, Jim Kenney, sent the World Meeting of Families an additional $4 million bill for expenses incurred during the September 2015 papal...
Pittsburgh: Mass attendance down 40% since 2000
Commenting on sobering demographic and financial trends, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that “the number one priority has to be, ‘We need to make our...
Pope calls for collaboration between pontifical academy, institute
In a chirograph to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, Pope Francis expressed esteem for the prelate’s past work as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and said that as he named him...
Russian patriarch pays tribute to Fidel Castro
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church offered “cordial congratulations” to Fidel Castro on his 90th birthday. The Communist leader ruled Cuba from 1959 until 2008. “For the...
Major battle for Aleppo imminent, says bishop
The bishop who ministers to Latin-rite Catholics in Aleppo said that fighting is intensifying as belligerents sense that whoever wins control of the city may win the Syrian Civil...
Many European women want more babies than they have, study finds
While European birth rates have dropped below the replacement level, the vast majority of women in Europe believe that the ideal family should include at least two children, a Pew Research...
Christian-Muslim cooperation will thwart jihadists, Vatican cardinal says
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, argues that cooperation between Christians and Muslims can counteract the propaganda of Islamic...
Colombia's bishops welcome government decision against gender ideology in schools
The Catholic bishops of Colombia have welcomed a decision by the government of President Juan Manuel Santost against introducing gender ideology in the country's public schools. After an...
Mexican bishop, threatened with prosecution, vows to continue speaking out on public issues
A Mexican bishop who has been charged with interfering in political affairs has said that he would risk jail rather than be silent. Bishop Ramon Castro Castro of Cuernavaca hosted a meeting of...
Australian police near decision on questioning Cardinal Pell about abuse claims
Police in Australia are close to a decision on whether or not to pursue an investigation into sexual-abuse charges that have been lodged against Cardinal George Pell, the prefect of the...
French President Hollande meets with Pontiff
Pope Francis met privately with President Francois Hollande of France on August 17, for a conversation that reportedly centered on the death of Father Jacques Hamel. Immediately after the...
Pope establishes new Vatican office for Laity, Family, and Life
Pope Francis has formally established a new Vatican dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life. Beginning on September 1, the new office will take over the functions of the existing Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas as prefect of the new dicastery....
Pope Francis reflects on multiplication of loaves and fishes
Continuing his series of Wednesday addresses on mercy, Pope Francis devoted his August 17 general audience to the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. “In St. Matthew’s account,...
Changes in Roman Curia: Dallas bishop named prefect of new dicastery
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas as prefect of the Vatican’s new Dicastery for Laity, the Family, and Life. The Pope has also issued a motu proprio, Sedula Mater, formally establishing the new dicastery, which he had announced in June. [See today's separate CWN headline story.] Born in Dublin in 1947, Kevin Farrell was ordained a priest of the Legionaries...
Same-sex, humanist weddings exceed Catholic weddings in Scotland
The number of same-sex wedding ceremonies exceeded the number of Catholic weddings in Scotland in 2015, according to an annual demographic report released by Scotland’s government. Over 5%...
Priest who wrote speeches for Nixon dead at 89
John McLaughlin, a Jesuit priest who worked as one of President Richard Nixon’s speechwriters and was subsequently dispensed from his vows, has died of cancer at age 89. McLaughlin worked...
Caritas workers kidnapped in Congo
Three aid workers associated with the Catholic relief and development agency Caritas were kidnapped in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on August 16, according to...
India: bishop who led diocese through anti-Christian pogrom passes away
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, the retired archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, India, died of cancer on August 14 at the age of 81. Archbishop Cheenath led the Church in the eastern Indian state of...
Court upholds legality of disinheritance on basis of religion
Upholding a lower court decision, a New Jersey appeals court ruled that state anti-discrimination law does not prevent parents from disinheriting children on the basis of religion. In his 1987...
Oklahoma Christians counter Black Mass with prayer rally
More than 1,000 Christians gathered for a prayer rally on the streets of Oklahoma City on August 15, to counter a Black Mass conducted at the city's civic center. Only a handful of people...
'Sexting' charge against former vicar general of California diocese
A California man has brought a sexual-harassment lawsuit against Msgr. Lawrence McGovern, the former vicar general of the Stockton diocese. The suit alleges that Msgr. McGovern had made overtures...
French bishop plans speedy cause for beatification of Father Hamel as martyr
Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, France plans to open a cause for the beatification of Father Jacques Hamel without observing the usual five-year waiting period after his death. The...
Evangelical Lutheran Assembly approves 'historic' statement of accord with Catholics
America’s largest Lutheran organization has announced that “Church-dividing issues” have been resolved, and the path is clear for unity with the Catholic Church.” The...
Milwaukee's archbishop pleads for end to urban violence
Milwaukee's Archbishop Jerome Listecki has appealled for calm and referred to the violence sweeping that city as a "self-inflicted wound." Riots broke out in the Wisconsin...
Quebec monastery opens award-winning hotel
A Quebec Augustinian monastery for women that was cloistered until 1965 has been named the top destination for a “mental and physical reboot” by National Geographic Traveler. The...
Turkish government says it will not tear down seized churches
Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning stated that it will not tear down Armenian churches that Turkey expropriated during a March offensive against Kurdish separatists in...
Papal prayers for Congo
Following his August 15 Angelus address, Pope Francis prayed for inhabitants of the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following a massacre there. The nation’s...
Mary precedes the faithful into heaven, Pope says on Feast of the Assumption
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary “is a great mystery that concerns each one of us; it concerns our future,” Pope Francis said during his August 15 Angelus...
Church needs missionaries, not managers, Pope says
Reflecting on Christ’s words, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Lk. 12:49), Pope Francis called upon the faithful to be open to the...
Oklahoma archbishop calls for prayers as Satanists plan Black Mass
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City has called the faithful to prayer as a Satanist group prepares to conduct a Black Mass at the city's Civic Center on August 15. The Satanist ceremony,...
Argentine cardinal raps corruption of former president's administration
Cardinal Mario Polli of Buenos Aires has taken a public slap at the administration of Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, calling attention to charges of...
Archbishop Chaput: both major presidential candidates are 'problematic'
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has offered his personal thoughts on this year's American presidential race, revealing that he has not yet decided how he will vote. "Both major...
Vatican prelate challenges Islamic scholars to give peaceful interpretation of Qu'ran
The president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has acknowledged that passages of the Qu’ran seem to offer clear support for the use of violence.” Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo said...
'Burkini' wear banned at beaches of Cannes
The mayor of Cannes, the French resort town, has announced a ban on the wearing of "burkinis"-- the full-length swimsuits worn by Muslim women. Mayor David Lisnard said that the...
German bishops praise Luther as 'teacher of the faith'
The German Catholic bishops' conference has issued a report praising Martin Luther as a "teacher of the faith." The Reformation in Ecumenical Perspective, a document of over 200...
Pope visits women rescued from sexual trafficking
On August 12, Pope Francis dropped in on a Rome center for refugee women who have been rescued from work as prostitutes. The Pope's visit-- which, like his visit to two Italian convents...
French police tighten security for annual pilgrimage to Lourdes
Police in France are taking special precautions to ensure the safety of an annual pilgrimage to the Marian shrine at Lourdes, which will take place on August 15, the feast of the Assumption. A...
Papal condolences following death of bishop involved in Bloody Sunday
Pope Francis sent a special message to mourners at the funeral of Bishop Edward Daly, the retired bishop of Derry in Northern Ireland, who died on August 8 at the age of 82. On Bloody Sunday in...
Vatican newspaper tribute to 'underground' Chinese bishop
L’Osservatore Romano has paid tribute Bishop Vincent Huang Shoucheng of Xiapu (Funing), who recently died at the age of 93 and whose ministry was not recognized by the Communist...
Ukrainian Catholic leader: the Church must save the family
Speaking recently to a participants in a movement for married couples, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that “the institution of the family as inseparable and fruitful...
Arizona employee cleared in Lourdes trip email investigation
The office of Arizona’s attorney general has concluded that the director of the state’s Department of Economic Security did not break the law when he sent an email relating to a...
Archbishop at US-Mexico border: we need to tear down walls
The new archbishop of Tijuana, Mexico, visited the US-Mexican border on August 11, leaned on the border fence, and said, “We need to build bridges, and tear down walls.” Archbishop...
California legislator backs off bid to force equal treatment for gay students in religious schools
A California state legislator has dropped an effort to force religious schools to offer equal treatment to homosexual students. State Senator Ricardo Lara announced that, under heavy lobbying...
Indian cardinal sees Father Hamel as model for clergy
Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India has exhorted his priests to imitate Father Jacques Hamel, and show the determination to be faithful "up to the end." At an annual meeting for...
Pope has lunch with Syrian refugees
Pope Francis hosted a group of Syrian refugees for lunch at his residence on August 11. The 21 refugees, who were brought to Rome by the Pontiff after his April visit to the Greek island of...
Catholic editor, facing threats, leaves Bangladesh
A Catholic newsletter editor in Bangladesh has fled the country because of threats to her life and family. Rosaline Costa, who has edited "Hotline Bangladesh" for 30 years,...
Islamic-Christian relations deteriorating in Philippines, missionary priest reports
Relations between Christians and Muslims have deteriorated badly in the Philippines, a veteran missionary priest told Aid to the Church in Need. “Before, the Philippines was a dream place...
LCWR calls for civility in presidential campaign
In a letter delivered to the campaigns of the four leading presidential candidates, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious called for civility. “We need courageous leaders willing to...
Westminster Cathedral to be lit in red to raise awareness of persecution
In November, Westminster Cathedral will be lit in red with floodlights to commemorate the persecution of Christians. “If every parish in the country did the same it might at last wake up...
Russian patriarch: no contradiction between religion, science
There is no conflict between religion and science, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said in a recent talk to scientists. Speaking in Sarov-- Russia’s center for nuclear research-- the head of the...
State Department highlights blasphemy laws in annual religious freedom report
The US State Department has issued its annual international religious freedom report and highlighted the relation between blasphemy laws and human rights violations in “deeply conservative...
Diocese: government aggressively pushing HHS mandate despite suit
Three months after the US Supreme Court gave a temporary victory to the Little Sisters of the Poor, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, and other plaintiffs who objected to the HHS mandate, the...
Turkish media see 'mentality of the Crusade' behind alleged coup leader
Turkish journalists have charged that Fethullah Gülen, the exiled Islamic reformer who has been named by the government as the inspiration for last month's abortive coup, has the...
17th arson attack on Chilean church
A Catholic church in Collipulli, Chile was torched on August 9, in the 17th arson attack on a church in the region in recent weeks. Militants from the indigenous Mapuche people, who have burned...
Former Irish seminarians cite secrecy demands at Maynooth
Two former students at Ireland's national seminary have reported that they were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, promising not to sue the institution. The former seminarians told...
US fertility rates hit all-time low
Fertility rates in the US have reached a historic low point, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report. There were 59.8 births for every thousand American women between the ages of 15 and 44...
Pope makes unscheduled visits to two Italian convents
Pope Francis made unsheduled visit to two convents in Italy's Rieti region on August 9, the Vatican has disclosed. Without any prior announcement, the Pope traveled north of Rome to Borgo San...
Myanmar plans demolition of Buddhist monasteries
The government of Myanmar has announced plans to destroy all houses of worship that have been built without government approval. "Every religion in Myanmar has to follow rules and...
Aggressive prosecutor seeks new conviction in landmark Philadelphia abuse case
A Philadelphia prosecutor says that he never hesitated in his determination to pursue a new trial of Msgr. William Lynn, although the priest has already served nearly the full minimum sentence for...
Cardinal Bagnasco says Europe marginalizes Christians out of fear
"Today Christians are martyrs," the president of the Italian bishops' conference said on August 10. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, celebrating Mass in the cathedral of St....
Pope Francis reflects on baptism and raising of widow’s son
Continuing his series of Wednesday catechetical addresses on mercy, Pope Francis devoted his August 10 general audience to the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7:11-17). “Jesus,...
Papal condolences for hurricane victims in Mexico
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has sent a message of condolence in Pope Francis’s name to hurricane victims in Mexico. “In the face of the grave...
Czech cardinal calls for frank dialogue on causes of terrorism
Cardinal Dominik Duka of Prague has called for honest conversation about the causes of recent terrorist attacks in Europe, including the slaying of Father Jacques Hamel. To “remain...
Abuse victims wounded by bishops’ defensive posture, says papal commission member
A member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said that a defensive posture on the part of Church leaders has caused deep wounds to abuse victims. “I've heard from...
Canada: Catholic school board suspends teacher following remarks at anti-Israel protest
A Catholic school board has suspended a teacher at St. Catherine of Siena School in Mississauga, Ontario, following remarks she reportedly made at a Quds Day protest in Toronto. Iran founded Quds...
Colorado priest, 2 laity receive USCCB pro-life award
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has conferred the People of Life Award on a Colorado priest, an...
Over 13 million Jubilee pilgrims to Rome thus far
More than 13 million people have passed through the Holy Door at St. Peter's basilica during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Vatican figures are based on official registrations. Many pilgrims...
New Iraqi priests ordained in refugee camp
Three Iraqi men were ordained to the priesthood in a refugee camp in Erbil on August 5. Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe of Mosul ordained the priests for the Syriac Catholic Church. The ceremony...
Boko Haram's new strategy: arm Muslim herdsmen to attack Christian farmers?
A Nigerian bishop fears that the Boko Haram terrorist group may have chosen a new strategy: arming Muslim herdsmen to attack Christian farmers, in a bid to drive Christians out of areas that are now...
Papal condolences following terrorist attack in Pakistan
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has sent a message of condolence in Pope Francis’s name following a terrorist attack on a hospital in...
Vatican message for atomic bomb anniversaries
Father Michael Czerny of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace delivered a message in Hiroshima on August 6 commemorating the anniversary of the use of atomic bombs against Hiroshima and...
Vatican newspaper highlights ‘Earth Overshoot Day’
The Vatican newspaper gave prominent front-page coverage in its August 9 edition to “Earth Overshoot Day”—the day on which, according to the Global Footprint Network,...
