Catholic World News

Ten of Europe’s 47 states have joined Italy in petitioning the European Court of Human Rights to overturn its decision in the Lautsi case, in which the court ruled that the display of a crucifix in...

Bishop Raymond Lahey, who resigned in September 2009 after Ottawa airport security found child pornography on his computer, has denied a sexual abuse allegation. A man who is a former resident of a...

“Insecurity reigns everywhere, families are divided, unemployment rises, political differences cause disorder, drugs of all kinds are spread everywhere,” the bishops of Madagascar write in a new...

Almost 50 organizations funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development “remain involved in activities directly opposed to Catholic moral and social teachings,” according to a June 1 statement...

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is criticizing a government proposal to reinstate the “Pacific solution,” a policy in effect from 2001-7 that transported asylum seekers away from the...

Caritas Internationalis, the consortium of Catholic charitable and relief agencies, has joined Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi in condemning the Israeli raid on the “Freedom Flotilla”...

In a decision that manifests the success of missionary efforts in Africa over the past century, the Society of Missionaries for Africa have for the first time chosen an African as their superior...

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Jakaya Kitwete of Tanzania voiced support for the canonization cause of Julius Nyerere (1922-99), Tanzania’s founding president. Mr. Nyerere...

Pope Benedict XVI expressed deep regret and "great trepidation" over the Israeli raid on the "Freedom Flotilla," during his weekly public audience on June 2. "I feel the need to express my...

The work of St. Thomas Aquinas has "fundamental importance in the history of philosophy and theology as well as for history and culture," Pope Benedict XVI said at his public audience on June...

Pope Benedict has made ecumenical work a top priority, advancing talks with the Orthodox churches and extending an invitation to Anglicans. But his efforts to reconcile with traditionalist Catholics...

At his installation Mass on June 1, Miami's Archbishop Thomas Wenski said that Catholics should advance Church social teachings "coherently and unapologetically" in public affairs. The new...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of condolence to the victims of a tropical storm that left 150 dead and many others wounded in Guatemala. In his message-- conveyed in a telegram to...

This week the Vatican is opening an exhibit featuring Diego Gelmirez, the first Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, who was instrumental in the construction of that city's cathedral and in...

The Elliot Institute, an Illinois organization dedicated to helping women recover from the aftermath of abortions, suggests that "probably the majority of abortions in the United States are unwanted...

The president of Germany’s episcopal conference is under investigation for a 1987 decision to transfer a priest who had committed abuse to another parish. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg was...

In a lengthy address delivered in Washington on June 2, Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, discussed various...

The Swiss bishops’ conference announced on June 2 that it would routinely report clerical abuse allegations to police rather than encouraging victims to file the reports. The bishops’ conference...

A century after the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh launched the modern ecumenical movement, representatives of the Catholic Church and various Orthodox and Protestant communities are...

Pope Benedict XVI blessed a bronze bust of his predecessor Venerable Pius XII at his June 2 general audience, according to a German-language Vatican Radio report. Pope Benedict also greeted Sister...

At the conclusion of his June 2 general audience devoted to St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict blessed participants at the Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans via a satellite link. The...

Gary Krupp, the head of the Pave the Way Foundation, has mounted a vigorous online defense of Pope Pius XII at Galus Australis, an Australian Jewish online forum. In a May 20 article, Mr. Krupp...

The president of the Turkish Catholic bishops' conference has been murdered. Bishop Luigi Padovese of Anatolia was stabbed to death on Thursday, June 3. The crime occurred in the port city of...

California prosecutors have considered bringing criminal charges against Church leaders in the Los Angeles archdiocese including Cardinal Roger Mahony, but the possibility of prosecution is "more...

When he travels to Cyprus this weekend, Pope Benedict XVI will be making the first trip of his pontificate to a predominantly Orthodox country. In choosing Cyprus as the site for the release of the...

Organizers of the September visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Great Britain are battling difficulties that include sharply rising costs and unavailable personnel in key planning positions. Church...

The government of Italy's Lombardy region is offering support to women who are considering abortion because of financial pressures. The government will offer monthly payments of €250, for up to...

Father Carlos Miguel Buela, the founder of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, has resigned his post as general superior of that institute-- reportedly at the request of the Vatican after an...

The power of the Eucharist "transforms extreme violence and injustice into the supreme act of love and justice," Pope Benedict XVI said as he led Corpus Christi observances on June 3. As the...

The influential Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolicahas published an article praising the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was approved by Congress and signed into law in March....

Catholics in Belgium have reported 400 abuse allegations since the April 23 resignation of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who admitted abusing a boy before and after his ordination as a bishop. European...

Cistercian Abbot Anselm van der Linde of Wettingen-Mehrerau has come to the defense of Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, the president of the German episcopal conference. The archbishop is...

Editor's note: The story below is a corrected version of a story that first appeared on June 4. After the original story appeared, CWN learned that the Danish newspaper story on which our report was...

The Comoros, a French-speaking Muslim nation of three islands in the Indian Ocean, will gain its first bishop on June 19, when Congolese-born Msgr. Charles Mahuza Yava is ordained. Pope Benedict on...

The Holy See Press Office announed on June 4 that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father David O’Connell as coadjutor bishop of Trenton (New Jersey). The Vincentian priest, who has served as...

Catholics in Turkey, mourning the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese, are raising questions about the official explanation for the killing. Murat Altun, who had been the bishop's driver, has...

Danish prosecutors have dropped 26 of the 31 sex-abuse complaints that had been lodged against Catholic priests. In most of the cases, police said, the statute of limitations makes it impossible to...

A cover story in Time magazine renews the effort to saddle Pope Benedict XVI with the blame for the worldwide sex-abuse scandal. The Time essay itself covers no new ground and has no real merit, but...

Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that his trip to Cyprus is a pastoral rather than political visit, as he spoke with reporters who accompanied him on the June 4 flight from Rome. Questioned about the...

"Following in the footsteps of our common fathers in the faith, Sts. Paul and Barnabas," Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cyprus on June 4. The Pope-- the first Roman Pontiff ever to visit Cyprus--...

Roughly 25% of the population of Sao Paulo turned out for the annual Corpus Christi procession. Not entirely religious-- nor exclusively Catholic-- the huge parade included 630...

Reflecting on this week's most poignant baseball story-- a pitcher's bid for a perfect game, ruined by an umpire's mistaken call-- columnist Peggy Noonan remarks that the main characters, in their...

Jeffrey Lena-- the American lawyer representing the Vatican in a Kentucky lawsuit that seeks to list Pope Benedict as a defender-- sees himself as a spokesman for the legal rights of small...

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is boosting its efforts to influence young people, the group's annual financial report shows. IPPF-- which enjoyed $140 million in revenues in...

Father Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-84), whose vocal opposition to Communism and support for the Solidarity labor movement led to his brutal martyrdom, was beatified on June 6 in Warsaw. 140,000 people,...

Less than a month after a mediation session at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal resulted in a confidential settlement, Bishop Nicola de Angelis of Peterborough traveled to a Cobourg parish to...

Diplomats from around the world are meeting in Kampala, Uganda, to review the Rome Statute, which was drafted in 1998 and created the International Criminal Court to punish crimes against humanity....

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services has issued a statement calling for the retention of the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy,” under which open homosexuality is...

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who was installed on June 1 as Archbishop of Miami, is calling upon Congress “to seize the opportunity for a comprehensive fix to our broken immigration system. To date,...

North Carolina public schools are preparing for the fall implementation of the Healthy Youth Act, which mandates that seventh and eighth graders be instructed in “the effectiveness and safety of all...

The October 2010 meeting of the Synod of Bishops will be "an opportunity for Christians of the rest of the world to offer spiritual support and solidarity to their brothers and sisters in the Middle...

The man charged with killing Bishop Luigi Padovese reportedly shouted "Allah Akbar!" after repeating stabbing the prelate, and boasted of having killed "the great Satan." Police and Church...

A European bishops' group is cautioning against a directive that would call for protection of animals used in laboratory tests in the European Union, but might encourage the use of tissues harvested...

Church officials in England have denied reports that the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman could be rescheduled. Pope Benedict XVI is due to preside at the beatification ceremony...

After the Vatican's highest tribunal turned down their effort to stop the closing of five parishes, dissident Catholics in the Boston archdiocese vowed to continue their vigils. The leader of a...

After his installation in the Diocese of Stockton in 1999, Bishop Stephen Blaire purchased a $94,560 annuity for notorious abuser Oliver O’Grady so that he would voluntarily seek laicization. “I...

Thirty Christian churches in the world’s largest Muslim nation have been burned down, attacked, or threatened with being closed by authorities, according to Theophilus Bela, the Catholic president...

Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen, Denmark’s sole bishop, has asked the Vatican to investigate the 1993 death of an elderly nun at a Cistercian convent, according to The Copenhagen Post. The nun,...

The Diocese of Joliet has removed two of its priests from ministry after a former Catholic school student alleges they abused him three decades ago. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests...

Father Charles Curran, the priest of the Diocese of Rochester whose dissent from Catholic teaching led to his removal from a Catholic University teaching position in 1986 at the behest of Cardinal...

Catholic priests from all around the world are gathering in Rome this week, at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI, for the closing events of the Year for Priests. The 3-day celebration begins...

The Vatican has announced that nine beatifications have been scheduled for the months of June through November. In each case, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had already issued a...

The worldwide leadership of the Anglican communion has suspended representatives of the Episcopal Church in the US from participating in ecumenical dialogues. The disciplinary action came after the...

The Italian bishops' conference has issued a statement of support for the country's priests, noting that the "generic accusations" of misconduct that have arisen because of the sex-abuse scandal...

The execution-style killing of a Christian businessman in Kirkuk, Iraq, has reawakened fears of a systematic campaign against the Christian minority in northern Iraq. Kirkuk, like the nearby city...

As Britain prepares for the September visit by Pope Benedict XVI, the Channel 4 television network has announced plans to air a documentary on the Pope. The program will be guided by Peter...

Surveying the recent decisions of the US Supreme Court, legal theorist (and newly baptized Catholic) Hadley Arkes concludes that in effect, the Court is saying: "We are prepared to entertain...

Pope Shenouda II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has confirmed that his church will refuse to abide by a decision of Egypt's highest court, which ruled that the Coptic Church must allow...

In a noteworthy column published in USA Today, Philip Jenkins, the respected author of Pedophiles and Priests, points out that while sexual abuse by Catholic priests has become the topic of constant...

A funeral Mass for Bishop Luigi Padovese, the slain vicar apostolic of Anatolia and president of Turkey’s episcopal conference, took place on June 7 at the cathedral in Iskenderun. “For us...

During a Corpus Christi address, Panama’s leading prelate strongly criticized a government decision to eliminate Sunday as a day of required rest for workers. “The dignity of man and woman is what...

One year after Mauricio Funes assumed office as president of El Salvador, the nation’s leading prelate has lauded him for taking “significant steps” to foster democracy. “Beyond the partisan...

Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City has criticized the scheduled June 18 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad. The method of execution was chosen at the convicted murderer’s request....

Greg Erlandson, president of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing and coauthor of Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis: Working for Reform and Renewal, has written a critique of the recent Time...

The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, chaired by Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh, continued to work on a...

Pope Benedict XVI devoted his weekly public audience on June 9 to a recap of his trip the previous weekend to Cyprus, adding a look forward to the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which will...

Islamic protestors burned the Pope in effigy in Afghanistan, in a demonstration prompted by charges that Christian relief agencies were seeking to convert Muslims. The demonstrators also shouted,...

An Australian bishop has acknowledged that he drew a reprimand from his fellow bishops for violating the confidentiality of a woman who had reported sexual abuse. Bishop Joseph Grech of Bendigo...

The Knights of Columbus have published a recently discovered August 1943 letter from Pope Pius XII to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asking the Allied forces to spare civilians, churches, and...

Government authorities in Ordos City, a city of 1.6 million in northern China, demolished the city’s only parish on June 7 in order to make way for a larger road. Authorities also handcuffed the...

A Dutch-born Cistercian abbess who has served as a superior of abbeys in Denmark, Germany, and Peru is being sought by Danish police for the 1993 death of a fellow nun. After an elderly nun who was...

The June 10 edition of L’Osservatore Romano has published an article by neonatologist and bioethicist Carlo Bellieni denouncing “handi-phobia”: a fear of handicapped persons that has led to the...

In a wide-ranging interview published on June 10 by the Gaborone Sunday Standard, Botswana’s leading prelate said that the clerical abuse scandals are a “reflection of a sick society” and that...

Susan Boyle, who achieved worldwide fame in 2009 on a British reality television show, will likely sing at a papal Mass during Pope Benedict’s September visit to the United Kingdom, according to a...

Speaking to priests who were gathered in Rome for the concluding days of the Year for Priests, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said that the sex-abuse scandal pointed to the need for a "new season of...

The widespread belief that Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, would soon be appointed prefect of the powerful Congregation for Bishops has come under question, as rumors now circulate in...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 10 with Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, for "cordial" discussions that touched on issues that have caused serious tensions between the Spanish...

A new report on legal euthanasia in Belgium has found that a significant number of "terminations with request or consent." Although the country's law requires the patient to give informed consent...

England's Prince Charles, speaking to an audience at Oxford, has recommended a return to the "spiritual principles" of the world's great religions, as a means of curbing environmental damage. Prince...

Church leaders in Turkey are raising serious questions about the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese, and rejecting the official explanation that the bishop's assailant was emotionally...

In a June 9 Mass that was among the concluding celebrations of the Year for Priests, Cardinal Claudio Hummes., prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, urged the world’s priests to be...

Finland’s sole Catholic bishop has criticized the nation’s Lutheran community for electing its first female bishop. Irja Askola will become the Lutheran bishop of Helsinki, the nation's...

In a quiet May 27 vote, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 15-12 to permit abortions at US military hospitals. The provision is now an amendment to an 852-page bill which, if approved, will...

As the World Cup takes place in South Africa, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has organized an International Soccer Peace Tournament to help bring together different...

Joined by Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, Christopher Senyonjo, a deposed Ugandan Anglican bishop, called upon Christians to repent of their opposition to...

The bishops of Massachusetts are opposing legislation that would permit resort-style casinos to be built in the state. Edward Saunders, the executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic...

At a Mass in St. Peter's Square concluding the Year for Priests, Pope Benedict XVI said that it was no coincidence that the sex-abuse scandal struck during a year set aside for celebration of the...

An estimated 15,000 priests, representing 97 different nations, joined in a prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square on Thursday evening, June 10, as the Year for Priests drew toward its conclusion....

In a break from the program announced in advance by the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI did not cap the Year for Priests with a solemn proclamation naming St. John Vianney as the patron of all priests....

A California court has ordered the public release of depositions by Cardinal Roger Mahony and other officials of the Los Angeles archdiocese in a notorious sex-abuse case. The depositions,...

Italian police unintentionally recorded a phone conversation of Pope Benedict XVI, while taping the calls of an Italian civic official who was being investigated on corruption...

A German bishop has weighed in against plans by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to ordain three priests for the traditionalist order. Bishop Gerhard Mueller of Regensburg, in whose diocese the...

A former US State Department official, Thomas Farr, notes that the Obama administration has shown no special interest in religious-freedom questions, waiting 16 months to nominate an ambassador to...

Catholic priests should view their work as a divine ministry, not a profession, a German cardinal told priests who had assembled in Rome this week for the closing of the Year for Priests. Cardinal...

Jenn Giroux, the executive director HLI America, gives a spirited rebuttal of the claim that contraceptives have enriched the lives of American women. An ugly record of disease and depression shows...

Marquette University has reached a financial settlement with a lesbian professor who had accepted an offer to serve as dean at Marquette, then seen the offer rescinded amid controversy over her open...

At the conclusion of Slovenia’s national Eucharistic congress, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone presided over the beatification of Lojze Grozde, a 20-year-old who was tortured...

Bishop Demetrio Fernández González of the southern Spanish city of Córdoba, once the seat of Muslim power in Spain, said that he will not permit Islamic worship at the city’s cathedral. The...

Hindu fundamentalists in Orissa attacked a convert to Christianity on June 7 and three Protestant pastors on June 9. “We cannot even have prayers, gatherings and meals together,” said Father...

Bishops representing bishops’ conferences across North America have issued a statement reaffirming “our commitment to vulnerable persons who migrate in search of protection or for a better life for...

Cardinal George Pell’s predicted nomination to the Congregation for Bishops was scuttled because of fears of negative publicity surrounding an abuse allegation made against him in 2002, according to...

The 97-year-old retired New Orleans archbishop who offered the Requiem Mass for President John F. Kennedy has published his memoirs, including in them a copy of a handwritten letter from the...

The feast of the Sacred Heart “is traditionally the ‘day of priestly sanctification,’ and this time it was especially so,” Pope Benedict XVI told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square at his Angelus...

President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the Catholic Health Association (CHA) for the group’s “help and courage in passing health-care reform” despite the US bishops’ statement of opposition to...

Father Thomas Berg, the president of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, has denounced the Hyundai auto firm for presenting a television advertisement, airing on World Cup...

A lopsided majority of Irish respondents said that Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh should resign, in a new survey conducted for the Irish Times. The Times poll found that 76% of those questioned...

St. Francis Xavier parish of New York is planning to send a delegation to the city’s gay-pride parade on June 27, despite a message from Archbishop Timothy Dolan saying that no group should...

News coverage of the sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has reached nearly the same saturation levels recorded in 2002, the Pew Research Center reports. But interest in the topic has not...

Speaking on June 14 to a group of future Vatican diplomats, Pope Benedict XVI told them that their work would require complete dedication to unity within the Church. A papal representative, the...

"Economy and finance are not ends unto themselves," Pope Benedict XVI reminded a group of European bankers at a private audience on June 12. He stressed that economic systems must serve human...

The murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese in Turkey is a reminder of the dangers facing Christians in Turkey and elsewhere in Europe, said Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi at a Mass for the slain prelate in...

Police in Rome arrested a Venezuelan man who apparently disguised himself as a priest in an attempt to steal valuable books from the library of a noted Catholic institution. The would-be thief...

John H. Garvey, the dean of Boston College Law School, has been named president of Catholic University of America. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Law School, Mr. Garvey...

The European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously on June 10 that a 2004 Russian court decision banning the Jehovah’s Witnesses was illegal. In its decision, the court recalled that “freedom of...

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, has issued a statement calling upon nations to place greater emphasis on the moral law...

The Obama administration has loosened a ban on international aid to organizations that support prostitution or sex trafficking, the National Catholic Register reports. Under the new policy, an...

Anthony Earl-Williams, the leader of a sect that has been variously characterized as "Old Catholic" and "traditional Catholic," has been involved in prurient activities of a homosexual nature, The...

A prominent Cuban political prisoner has been released after talks between government officials and Church leaders. Ariel Sigler Amaya, who had been sentenced to a 20-year prison term after his...

Hyundai, the Korean auto manufacturer, has pulled a television advertisement that was being broadcast during World Cup soccer games, acknowledging that the ad had drawn angry protests from Catholic...

The Los Angeles archdiocese will not appeal a judge’s order that allowed for the public release of depositions by Cardinal Roger Mahony and other archdiocesan officials. The decision clears the...

Catholic Church leaders in Ireland have agreed to pay €250,000 ($300,000) to settle the legal claims of a woman who reported that she was sexually abused by the late Father Brendan Smyth. Marie...

Police in India’s state of Orissa have arrested a Hindu extremist who was one of the men accused of raping a Catholic nun during a burst of violence in August 2008. The arrest of Pandit...

The Legionaries of Christ, once among the wealthier orders in the Catholic Church may suffer a significant fundraising setback as a result of relevations about misconduct by the order’s founder and...

Vatican and Israeli officials met in Rome on June 15 for the latest in a long-running series of negotiating sessions aimed at concluding an overdue juridical agreement. The latest session ended...

Retired Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg, whose resignation was accepted on May 8 amid allegations of child abuse and financial improprieties, has told a German newspaper that he may ask Pope Benedict...

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the retired Archbishop of Westminster, told a gathering of Irish priests that he would bring the perspective of a “wounded healer” to the apostolic visitation of...

Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad, Pakistan’s third largest city, told Aid to the Church in Need that the nation’s Christians are facing the prospect of dhimmitude. Citing the laws against...

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the US bishops’ domestic anti-poverty program, has approved $300,000 in grants to help communities affected by the BP oil spill. “This tragic oil...

The Catholic bishops of Ireland have welcomed the June 15 publication of the Saville Inquiry report into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, in which members of a British army regiment killed or...

The annual spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is taking place at a Florida hotel. The assembled bishops are on retreat and will not hold any public discussion of...

In newly released testimony from a sex-abuse lawsuit, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said that the decisions he made in 1986 should not be judged by today’s standards. "The challenge is...

Two bombs disrupted a rally organized by pro-life groups opposed to a new draft constitution in Nairobi, Kenya, leaving 6 people dead and more than 100 injured. Although police have not...

The pastor of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip says that the effect of an Israel blockade is to “undermine people’s lives.” Father Manawel Mussallam said that the blockade—aimed to...

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Contantinople in a case against the government of Turkey. The court in Strasbourg ruled that Turkey must...

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have issued a 32-page booklet providing background information on the September 2010 visit by Pope Benedict XVI. The booklet, which will be distributed...

As his regular weekly public audience on June 16, Pope Benedict XVI continued his discussion on the influence of St. Thomas Aquinas, "a theologian of such importance that the study of his works was...

Addressing the Roman diocesan congress, which began June 15 in the Lateran Basilica, Pope Benedict reflected on the congress’s theme: the Sunday Eucharist and the witness of charity. Catholic...

The Holy See Press Office on June 16 announced the schedule for Pope Benedict’s July 4 pastoral visit to Sulmona, a small central Italian city with 25,000 residents. Following an outdoor Mass and...

Caritas Internationalis, the consortium of Catholic charitable and relief agencies, is warning that 10 million in the Sahel region of Africa-- 8 million of them in Niger-- are at risk of hunger. “We...

Discussing efforts to assist those affected by the BP oil spill, the communication director of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New Orleans told PBS that “we’ve seen about 8,000 people so...

Bishop Nicolas Djomo of Tshumbe, president of the episcopal conference of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, traveled to Belgium to pay tribute to the missionaries who brought the Catholic faith...

Although there are only 500 Catholics in the Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, the Church was among the first to assist the Uzbek victims of recent unrest, according to Bishop Nikolaus Messmer. “We were...

An Italian journalist who reported in May that Australian Cardinal George Pell would become the new prefect of the Congregation for Bishops is now saying that the post will go to Cardinal Marc...

Brescia University, a Catholic school in Owensboro, Kentucky, has announced that an art auction scheduled to be held on campus on June 25, as part of Owensboro Pride Week, will not take place....

Pope Benedict XVI met with Father Alvaro Corcuera Martinez del Rio, the superior general of the Legionaries of Christ, in a private audience on June 17. The Vatican offered no information about the...

The Catholic bishops of Ireland have issued a statement calling upon legislators to reconsider pending legislation that would give same-sex partnerships the same legal standing as marriage....

The president of the US bishops’ conference believes that the Catholic Health Association (CHA) bears a great deal of responsibility for the passage of health-care reform legislation that expands...

American taxpayers have provided about $1 billion in funding for organizations that promote legal abortion in the US and abroad, according to official statistics furnished by the federal Government...

Bishop Max John Rodrigues of the southern Pakistani city of Hyderabad told Fides that while most Pakistanis support the repeal the blasphemy law used to oppress religious minorities, fear of...

Father James O’Connell, vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and a member of the archdiocesan review board for sexual abuse cases, issued an open letter on June 17 in which he blasted the...

Nearly 17 months after taking office, President Barack Obama announced his appointee for the position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom on June 15. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook,...

A Michigan bishop has temporarily suspended funding of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. “After consulting with a number of advisors, Bishop [Bernard] Hebda has decided that for this year...

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines announced on June 18 that Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao has excommunicated a layman who posed as a priest. When Xavier Eubra de Borja visited...

Father David Anthony O’Hearn of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has been charged with 17 counts of abuse committed against five boys. In the brief of evidence submitted on Father O’Hearn’s behalf,...

Archbishop Julius Paetz of Poznan stepped down in 2002 after he was accused of making sexual overtures toward seminarians. Archbishop Paetz insisted that the charges were part of a “broadly...

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the US bishops’ conference, will visit Cuba next week. The cardinal’s trip will take place at a time when Cuban government officials are...

Planned Parenthood clinics in several American regions are apparently promoting a “telemedicine” plan that will allow doctors to prescribe contraceptives after a video conference, without requiring...

The Catholic Education Service in England is advising administrators of Catholic schools that they should resist the government’s campaign to reorganize themselves as “academy” schools with public...

Buoyed by new signs of openness from their country’s government, and a visit by a ranking Vatican official, Church leaders in Cuba have voiced the hope that Pope Benedict XVI will visit their...

L’Osservatore Romano has hailed the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, as a Catholic classic. To mark the 30th anniversary of the American comedy, L’Osservatore dedicated a full page to the Blues...

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples, who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006, is among those under investigation in an Italian corruption...

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, warned of the abortifacient nature of a new drug, Ulipristal, in a June 17 letter. “I...

Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, addressed the worldwide phenomenon of illegal immigration during a June...

Comparing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the Bhopal and Chernobyl incidents of the 1980s, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, said that “what is striking in this...

Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz Ossa of Santiago has asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to investigation abuse allegations against Father Fernando Karadima Fariña, a revered priest...

An 85-year-old Italian ex-priest who founded a network of drug-abuse rehabilitation centers stands accused of abusing 12 young men. The trial of Pierino Gelmini, 85, will begin in March 2011....

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a brief statement on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. “We, the Catholic Bishops of the United States, gathered in St....

The Archdiocese of Mexico City is fearful that drug traffickers are organizing politically to “impose candidates” on the voters in elections scheduled for July 4. An editorial in the archdiocesan...

An ugly dispute within the German Catholic hierarchy has grown uglier, with the multiple media references to a “secret file” on Bishop Walter Mixa, reportedly containing allegations of severe...

A Connecticut priest is being investigated in a connection with an estimated $1 million missing from parish accounts. Father Kevin Gray, who was placed on medical leave in April, could face...

Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City issued a statement of regret after the June 18 execution of Ronnie Lee Garner, a convicted murderer. The bishop voiced the hope that society can “move beyond the...

Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, will soon be named as the Pope’s delegate to supervise the affairs of the Legionaries of...

Cardinal Joseph Zen, the retired Bishop of Hong Kong, has warned that political reforms introduced to promote democratic government in the Chinese province may actually have the opposite effect....

Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, has been urged by an outspoken colleague to come forward with information about an accused predator priest. Bishop Michael Malone of...

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged a group of Brazilian bishops to “teach the truth boldly and authentically,” as he spoke at the conclusion of their ad limina visit on June 18. The Pope laid heavy...

Correcting reports that appeared in the Polish news media late last week, the Vatican press office has denied that Archbishop Juliusz Paetz has been restored to episcopal ministry. Archbishop...

As he ordained 14 new priests for the Rome diocese, in a June 20 ceremony at the Vatican basilica, Pope Benedict XVI issued a stern warning that the priesthood is not a career. “Anyone who...

At his midday Sunday audience on June 21, Pope Benedict XVI said that all Christians must recognize the Cross as “pinnacle of our good and crown of our hope.” Reminding the crowd in St. Peter’s...

Pope Benedict XVI issued a plea for peace in Kyrgyzstan at the conclusion of his Angelus audience on June 21. The Pope asked “all the ethnic communities of the country to renounce any form of...

Vietnamese government officials are in Rome this week for meetings with Vatican officials. The object of the meeting, the Vatican announced, is “to strengthen and develop bilateral relations.” The...

Amid escalating tensions between North and South Korea, the bishops of South Korea held a day of prayer and fasting on June 20 to prevent war. “War would be a terrible tragedy, and we want to...

The bishops of Burundi are opposing calls by the nation’s political opposition to repeat the local elections of May 24. Alleging that fraud took place, the opposition is boycotting the June 28...

Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in...

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the General Secretary of the Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan recounted the persecution Catholics endured in the Soviet Union under the regime of...

Father José Francisco Nuñez Calisto, a parish priest of the south-central Chilean Archdiocese of Puerto Montt, was stabbed in the neck on June 18 while distributing Holy Communion during Mass....

Expressing concern about the prospective introduction of the extraordinary form of the Mass and an end to female altar servers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, 200 members of a parish...

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Planned Parenthood Federation received about $1 billion in federal funds from 2002 to 2009. But PPFA audits account for only...

The government of the Philippines has agreed to postpone implementation of a proposed sex-education program, while consulting with the country’s Catholic bishops about the contents of the pilot...

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia has voiced concerns about the growing influence of the country’s Green party. At a meeting of Christian leaders with the top representatives of the...

Education is the way to overcome fundamentalism, Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice said at a meeting of the Oasis Foundation, a group that he founded to advance dialogue between the Christian and...

A film based on the spurious legend of “Pope Joan” has become one of the most popular movies in Italy this season. The movie tells the story of a woman who supposedly disguised herself as a man and...

An official of the US bishops’ conference has accused an independent Catholic news agency of fabricating a report about a speech by Cardinal Francis George. Helen Osman, the secretary for...

A Mexican man who says that he is the son of the late Father Marcial Maciel has filed a lawsuit in Connecticut court against the Legionaries of Christ, saying that the religious order’s negligence...

A new musical production in Rome compresses the life story of Pope John Paul II into a 2-hour show, including 18 songs. The musical, Non Abbiate Paura (Do Not Be Afraid) was written by two Italian...

Every year thousands of Christian families leave their homes in the Islamic countries of the Middle East, seeking better prospects—including more religious freedom—elsewhere. At the same time,...

A German bishop who resigned in the face of abuse charges, then threatened to rescind his resignation, has announced that he will adhere to his decision to resign, and apologized for his misconduct....

Teresa Kettelkamp, who has served as the executive director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Office of Child and Youth Protection since 2005, has called upon the dioceses...

While serving as bishop of Boise (Idaho) in 1990, Bishop Tod Brown wrote a letter of recommendation to the Archdiocese of Tijuna on behalf of Father Ruben Idalio Garcia, a priest who had committed...

Auxiliary Bishop Donal McKeown of Down and Connor has written a column emphasizing that the clerical abuse of children took place in the past. “Even though the vast majority of claims about...

The bishops of Kerala-- the southwestern Indian state that has been a center of Catholicism since its evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle-- are speaking out against a bill that would legalize...

Preaching at a Mass in Boston at the invitation of Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Uganda’s leading prelate urged Ugandans living abroad to return to their native land. “It is good to move out in places...

“The wall of silence has to be broken,” said Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as he introduced new policies designed to curb sexual abuse by Austrian priests. The abuse scandal, the cardinal...

The US Department of Labor has issued a ruling that extends medical-leave coverage to same-sex households. In the latest of a series of moves by the Obama administration to advance policies...

Archeologists in Rome have discovered the oldest known images of the Apostles. Using laser technology to peel away layers of stone that had built up over the centuries, workers uncovered a series...

The Catholic Health Association (CHA) has issued a statement reaffirming its support for the health-care reform legislation that was opposed by the US bishops’ conference. Just days after Cardinal...

Devoting a 3rd consecutive weekly audience to the influence of St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict XVI spoke on June 23 about the Summa Theologica, observing that the work "corresponds almost in its...

Police in Belgium have raided the offices of the Archbishop of Brussels, and the home of retired Cardinal Godfried Daneels, in an investigation of sexual abuse. A police spokesman said that the...

Writing for National Review, Robert George and Patrick Lee rebut the latest pseudo-scientific argument and confirm that human life begins at...

Countering reports that had circulated earlier this week, the government of the Philippines has announced that it will not stop implementation of a controversial sex-education program in the...

Plans for the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman have been scaled back, to take place at location that will accommodate a smaller congregation, English Catholic journalists report. Pope...

Bishop Joseph Han Yingjin was ordained on June 24 to head the Diocese of Shaanxi, China. He was the 4th bishop ordained this year with the approval of both the Vatican and the Beijing government. In...

Pope Benedict XVI traveled across Rome on June 24 to bless a beloved statue of the Virgin Mary that has been restored after being severely damaged in a storm last year. The Holy Father visited...

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the US bishops’ conference, is in Cuba this week for meetings with Church and government leaders. The American prelate’s 2-day trip follows...

Pope Benedict XVI visited a Dominican convent in Rome on June 24, joined the nuns for the Liturgy of the Hours, and spoke about the importance of prayer of cloistered religious in the life of the...

The arrest of a Pakistani man on blasphemy charges has prompted the country’s Catholic bishops’ conference to protest the misuse of the law “to strike religious minority groups.” Rehmat Masih, a...

A California man is suing the Los Angeles archdiocese for fraud, claiming that archdiocesan officials falsely promised him that a priest who had molested him would never be allowed to work in youth...

The town of Provincetown, Massachusetts has approved a new policy providing free condoms to students at public schools. The policy extends to both high schools and elementary schools. The policy...

As details emerged about an aggressive police search of the Brussels archdiocese, the Catholic bishops of Belgium and the Vatican issued matching protests against “the way in which the search took...

Irish sex-abuse victims charge that the official appointed to handle victims’ complaints for the Cloyne diocese tipped off the accused priest, handing him a file on the charges before he was...

On June 30 the European Court of Human Rights will hold a hearing on the display of the crucifix in Italian school classrooms. Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevi?ius of Kaunas, the president of the...

Weary of blockbuster films that distort the history of the Church and/or focus on the negative, Michael Cook, the editor of the Australian site MercatorNet, muses on how many compelling films could...

Coming to the support of Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, who condemned the decision to allow an abortion at a local Catholic hospital, the doctrine committee of the US Catholic Conference has...

Church officials in England have confirmed that the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman will take place in Birmingham rather than, as originally planned, at Coventry airport. Pope...

Two major incidents of anti-Christian violence have been reported from around Bangalore, India in recent days. On Wednesday, two young pastors of an evangelical church were beaten with iron rods...

The head of Dignitas, the Swiss firm that specializes in euthanasia, has amassed a fortune since he founded the firm 12 years ago. Although assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, the law...

Alexandra Colen, a member of the Belgian parliament, testifies that she could not obtain a hearing from the country’s Catholic leaders—including particularly the retired Cardinal Godfried Danneels...

While American media outlets remain silent on the issue, London’s Daily Mail has called attention to a new medical study showing the connection between abortion and breast cancer. The latest...

Pope Benedict XVI said that he would encourage the Christians living in the Middle East “to keep the faith and, despite numerous sacrifices, stay in the land were they were born.” He urged the...

A Catholic lay organization in Boston is opposing the sale of the archdiocesan health-care system to a secular corporation, citing the loss of Catholic identity and the likelihood that the...

The Austrian Catholic hierarchy is expected to approve standards of compensation for victims of sexual abuse, with damage payments ranging from €5,000 ($6.200) for lesser violations up to €25,000...

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the veteran president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said that he has “come to the end of my service,” at a June 25 press conference. The German cardinal,...

Afghan authorities have detained over 20 of the nation’s Christians after Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s National Assembly, called for the execution of...

Amid rising tensions between Hungary and Slovakia, the bishops of the two nations made a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Matraverebely-Szentkut on June 26 to pray for reconciliation. Hungary’s...

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is supporting a proposal by the nation’s health minister to create a national organ donor registry. “This is in line with our goal to address the...

Father Bill Bermingham resigned from his position as Designated Person for the Safeguarding of Children in the Diocese of Cloyne on June 25 after it was reported he had told an accused priest about...

A week after issuing an open letter denouncing the Diocese of La Crosse’s abuse policy, the vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has criticized the United States Conference of Catholic...

In 2005, Mundelein seminarian Rob Spaulding, returning from a sports bar with a blood alcohol content nearly twice the legal limt, lost control of the vehicle he was driving, leading to the deaths...

Pope Benedict XVI joined in criticizing the aggressive search by Belgian police in the cathedral and chancery of the Brussels archdiocese. A spokesman for the Brussels archdiocese suggested that...

Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed his plan to create a new office of the Roman Curia: the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. Speaking on June 28 at a Vespers service in the basilica of...

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the Vatican’s appeal of an Oregon judge’s decision allowing a sex-abuse victim to proceed with a lawsuit against the Vatican. The Supreme Court made no...

Pope Benedict XVI met on Saturday, June 26, with representatives of the Circolo di San Pietro, which each year presents the Pontiff with the receipts from the Peter’s Pence collection in the Rome...

The Vatican has announced a significant step forward in relations with Vietnam: a plan to name a “non-resident representative” of the Holy See to the Vietnamese government. The announcement came...

The Vatican has received the diplomatic credentials of Nikolay Sadchikov, the first-ever Russian ambassador to the Holy See. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Secretary for Relations with...

Young Catholics who heed the call to the priesthood or religious life offer a “living example of the radical response to the divine vocation,” Pope Benedict XVI told his midday audience on Sunday,...

Pope Benedict XVI said that he was encouraged with ecumenical progress, and hoped that the Orthodox churches would play a role in the October 2010 Synod of Bishops, as he met on June 28 with a...

A Portuguese bishop has suggested that the Church should recognize homosexual union as a reality, even if they cannot be recognized as marriages. Bishop Januario Torgal Ferreira, who heads the...

Clearly stung by corruption charges against Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe and the Vatican office he once headed, the Congregation for Evangelization, the Vatican on June 28 released a statement...

After Cardinal Christoph Schönborn met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience on June 28, the Vatican released an unusual statement that was, in effect, a rebuke to the Austrian cardinal for...

Pope Benedict XVI remarked on June 28 that he sees great signs of hope in relations between the Holy See and the world’s Orthodox churches. While the ecumenical climate has undoubtedly improved in...

Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, represented Pope Benedict XVI on June 27 at the beatification of Estephan Nehmeh (1889- 1938), a Maronite Catholic...

In a challenging talk on the crisis of the Catholic liturgy, Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput cites Romano Guardini, who questioned whether modern man can properly relate to liturgical prayer. The...

Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere defended an aggressive police raid of a bishops’ meeting during an investigation of the clerical abuse scandal. The Vatican and the Belgian bishops have...

In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled on June 28 that the University of California Hastings College of the Law may deny recognition to a Christian organization that does not...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, met with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on June 28 and said that the acceptance of...

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn on June 24 opened a canonical inquiry into the canonization cause of Msgr. Bernard J. Quinn (1888-1940), a diocesan priest who fought racial bigotry. During the...

Bishop Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston-- West Virginia’s sole diocese-- issued a statement on June 28 following the death of Sen. Robert Byrd. One of the most influential politicians of...

The Irish bishops have issued a strong protest against a leading politician’s charge that Pope Benedict XVI is “giving comfort” to bullies who attack homosexuals. Eamon Gilmore, the leader of the...

A prominent Hindu-nationalist politician has been convicted of murder in a case stemming from the burst of violence targeted against Christians in the eastern Orissa state. Manoj Pradhan, a...

Even if Mexico’s courts allow adoption by homosexual couples, the Catholic Church will continue to condemn the practice as immoral, a spokesman for the Mexico City archdiocese has said. Father...

Union with the Holy See guarantees the freedom of the local Catholic churches, Pope Benedict XVI said on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Pope explained that he was referring to...

More than half of Austria’s Catholic priests believe that women should be ordained, despite the Church’s definitive pronouncement that this is impossible, a new poll shows. Among the 500 priests...

In a unanimous decision, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union “did not impose an obligation on the Austrian Government to grant a...

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged senators in a June 29 letter to remove a committee amendment that would permit...

Catholic Relief Services, the US bishops’ humanitarian agency, has drawn attention to the US State Department’s recent annual report on human trafficking, which estimates that the number of “adults...

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that more than 140 alleged victims of clerical abuse may seek parish funds invested by the Diocese of Wilmington, even though the parishes are separate nonprofit...

The US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage has launched “Marriage: Unique for a Reason,” an initiative that emphasizes that marriage is only between one man and one woman. “The...

The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD)-- the humanitarian agency of the bishops of England and Wales-- has issued a statement expressing disappointment in the recent G8 summit. “At...

Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 76, as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and has named Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec, as his...

A staggering 500,000 African Catholics joined in a pilgrimage to northeastern Uganda for the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions earlier this month, the Catholic News Agency reports....

Pope Benedict XVI has formally created a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, and named Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, the current president for the Pontifical Academy for Life, as the...

The Catholic Bishops Council in India’s southern Kerala state that has called for more austere, spiritual, and “greener” celebration of parish feasts. In guidelines made public on June 30, the...

A Belgian man has filed a formal complaint against the police seizure of files belonging to a Church commission investigating sex-abuse complaints. Jan Hertogen, who says that he was sexually...

Pope Benedict XVI returned to the theme of the priesthood in his regular weekly audience on June 30, speaking about St. Joseph Cafasso, a 19th-century Italian priest. The Pope cited him as the model...

Members of a Hindu fundamentalist group stopped a bus carrying 40 children to a Christian school in India’s Orissa state on June 28, questioned the children about their beliefs, and took them to a...

Pope Benedict named Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the permanent observer of the Holy See for the United Nations, as his new apostolic nuncio to Poland. The previous nuncio to Poland, Archbishop...

The Vatican has released its annual message for World Tourism Day, on the theme of biodiversity. World Tourism Day will be observed on December 27. The Vatican message, released by the Pontifical...

Commenting on the appointment of Cardinal Marc Ouellet as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter makes the observation that the Pope's three top...

Elena Kagan, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the US Supreme Court, inserted a crucial phrase into a 1996 document that was used to defend the legality of...

Restoration work has been completed on the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 130-foot statue, perched on a mountaintop overlooking the city, had been surrounded...