Catholic World News

Two documents discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives reveal that the future Pope Pius XII sought to preserve Jewish culture, according to the Pave the Way Foundation. On January 9, 1939,...

A government weakened by scandals and Protestant missionaries who spread their faith “fanatically” are fostering a climate in which Muslim extremism against the Church is on the rise, according to...

A Lithuanian-born nun who founded an American religious communtiy was among those declared venerable by Pope Benedict on July 1. Born in 1880, Venerable Maria Kaupas came to Pennsylvania in 1905 and...

“A cleric accused of any moral impropriety of a sexual nature, especially the abuse of minors, will attract penalties as stipulated by the Church law, not excluding dismissal from the clerical...

In the July 2 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, frequent contributor Lucetta Scaraffia highlighted the work of French philosopher and literature professor Fabrice Hadjadj, the author most recently of...

In what purports to be a news article rather than an op-ed piece, The New York Times reported on July 2 that the future pope, it is now clear, was also part of a culture of nonresponsibility,...

After a meeting with the Pope, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has backed away from his criticism of the former Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. But Sandro Magister of L'Espresso...

After months on the defensive because of the sex-abuse scandal, the Catholic bishops of Ireland have begun to speak out once again, notes columnist David Quinn, pointing to a statement on same-sex...

Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith Patapendige of Colombo, Sri Lanka, has lodged a complaint with the government’s education minister about anti-Catholic bias in the textbooks assigned for history and...

Meeting on July 2 with a new ambassador from Iraq to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI called for effective protection of the country’s Christian minority. The Pope reminded the new envoy, Habbib...

Pope Benedict XVI met with organizers of the World Youth Day 2011 celebration, which will take place in Madrid, and encouraged them to “continue to collaborate generously in this great initiative.”...

The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has published a personal letter from Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, congratulating the Secretary of State on the 50th anniversary of his...

Ten years ago, Father Marc Ouellet was a priest, a seminary rector and theology instructor. This week Cardinal Ouellet was named prefect of the powerful Congregation for Bishops. Writing in Canada’s...

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter writes that Pope Benedict XVI will soon release a motu proprio on marriage law. The document itself would ordinarily not warrant much public attention,...

Pope Benedict XVI will leave the Vatican for his summer stay at Castel Gandolfo on July 7, the Vatican press office has announced. Leaving Rome on Wednesday, presumably after his regular midday...

The special court set up to try criminal charges arising from the orchestrated anti-Christian violence in the Kandhamal district of India’s eastern Orissa state has handed out yet another murder...

Vietnamese bishops were surprised by the Vatican’s announcement earlier this week that it would appoint a “non-resident representative” to Hanoi. Local Church leaders seemed bewildered by the move,...

At a public hearing on the sale of Caritas Christi, the health-care system of the Boston archdiocese, the director of the 6-hospital system admitted that he could not guarantee the continuation of...

Offering “a sincere and unreserved apology to all those victims who have suffered the pain and humiliation of sexual abuse and to their families,” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne has issued a...

Despite a government that keeps violence against Christians in check, Syria’s minority Catholic population is slowly losing members to Islam because of intermarriage and the nation’s education...

The Essential Norms for Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors that arose from the US bishops’ June 2002 meeting in Dallas envision that elderly or infirm priests who have sexually abused a child...

Bishop Francis Quinn, who served as bishop of Sacramento from 1979 until his resignation at the age of 72 in 1993, has called for a Vatican Council III to examine Church teaching on human...

Bishop Joseph Pepe of Las Vegas is requiring the fingerprinting of all parish volunteers, whether or not they work directly with children, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The newer...

In a July 4 newspaper column, Bishop Edward Burns of Juneau paid tribute to the religious faith associated with the founding of the United States. “Faith in the Lord is not only seen in documents...

Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Sulmona, in Italy’s Abruzzo region, on July 4, to join in celebrations there for the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Celestine V, the hermit who was elected Pope...

Muslim extremists abducted a professor who had been accused of insulting Muhammad and cut off his arm in India’s southern Kerala state. The brutal assault on T. J. Joseph occurred on Sunday, July...

An openly homosexual cleric is the leading candidate to become the Anglican Bishop of Southwark. The appointment could trigger a new round of angry confrontations within the Anglican...

Police in Belgium are investigating death threats against people who provided information about sexual abuse by Catholic clerics. “There are some threats against certain people around the case,”...

Saudi Arabia has imposed a limit on the number of Muslim pilgrims traveling to Mecca from the Philippines, in order to curb illegal immigration. A quota of 500 visas will be issued to Filipino...

On July 5, Pope Benedict XVI blessed a new fountain in the Vatican gardens, dedicated to St. Joseph. The fountain—adorned with five bronze panels depicting scenes from the life of St. Joseph,...

The Vatican has officially confirmed plans for the visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Great Britain in September. The plans for the papal trip has been known for weeks, and last month bishops of...

A car bomb damaged the residence of the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Kirkuk, Iran on July 4. The primary target of the bomb was apparently not the Catholic Church but a Sunni Muslim leader...

John Denham, a former priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison for abusing 39 children between 1968 and 1986. His victims’ ages ranged from five to...

Chris Patten, the British government’s special representative for the September papal visit, is urging anti-papal protestors to show restraint. “It would be an extraordinary irony if those who...

A new Spanish law that declares abortion a woman’s right and permits abortion on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy went into effect on July 5. Spain’s bishops denounced the law “because...

After Tasmania’s attorney general spoke in favor of a bill that would permit euthanasia in the Australian state, Archbishop Adrian Doyle of Hobart denounced her support of the measure. “It is...

Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the department for external Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, has welcomed the appointment of Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel as the new president of the...

Pope Benedict on July 6 named Msgr. Robert W. McElroy, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese. An alumnus of Harvard University and Stanford...

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) will soon issue new rules for the handling of sex-abuse cases, reports John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter. The new rules will extend...

Muslim extremists burst into a private home in Indonesia where a Mass was being celebrated, and scattered the congregation. The owner of the home, who had arranged for the Mass to celebrate his...

The Vatican has given permission for Italian police to exhume the grave of a notorious Mafia figure in the search for information about a girl who disappeared 27 years ago. Emanuela Orlandi, the...

Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the retired Archbishop of Brussels, is being questioned by authorities about the sex-abuse cases that prompted a stunning police raid on his home and the headquarters of...

A Catholic priest and nun working with the “underground” Church in China’s Ningxia diocese were killed on July 5. The bodies of Father Jospeh Shulai Zhang, the vicar general of the diocese, and...

In the latest in a series of official assaults against the Church in Vietnam, a Catholic layman was beaten to death by police for his protest against the seizure of his parish cemetery. Nam...

A Syrian Orthodox man was killed on July 5, in the latest of a series of targeted acts of violence against Christians in Mosul, Iraq. Behnam Sabti died when an explosive device planted in his car...

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has brushed aside reports that organizational woes have complicated plans for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September. In a Vatican Radio...

A Connecticut priest has been arrested on felony charges, allegedly having stolen $1.3 million from his parish to pay for his homosexual lifestyle. Father Kevin Gray allegedly misappropriated...

Addressing the national assembly on July 5-- Venezuela’s independence day-- President Hugo Chávez denounced Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas as a “troglodyte” who is “unworthy of calling...

Three young Malaysian Muslims have gone on trial for firebombing a Protestant church in the Asian nation in January. The spate of anti-Christian violence-- which included the firebombing of eight...

Gov. Linda Lingle of Hawaii on July 6 vetoed a bill that would have granted homosexual couples and heterosexual couples civil union status. “I am vetoing this bill because I have become convinced...

Addressing a UN meeting on gender equality and women’s empowerment, Archbishop Celestino Migliore praised the increasing place of women in public life and noted that men and women, while equal in...

Coadjutor Bishop David O’Connell of Trenton transformed the Catholic University of America from a school with “a lot of theology but no faith” to one with a resurgent Catholic identity, according to...

The Diocese of Charlotte announced on July 6 that one of its priests has been placed on leave following an allegation of “sexual misconduct with a young person” in the 1970s. Father Joseph Kelleher,...

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired Archbishop of Washington, DC, celebrates his 80th birthday today and thus becomes ineligible to vote in a papal conclave. Born in New York, Cardinal...

Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels was questioned by police for 10 hours on July 6, and emerged visibly shaken by the interrogation. A spokesman for prosecutors said that the retired Archbishop...

At his regular weekly public audience on July 7—the last Wednesday audience before his summer vacation—Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the contributions of Duns Scotus, the 13th-century theologian whose...

Following his regular midday audience on Wednesday, July 7, Pope Benedict XVI left Rome for his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, where he will remain until September. Having chosen to forego...

The Cuban government has decided to release dozens of political prisoners, responding to requests from the Catholic Church, the Cuban bishops’ conference has announced. After a meeting with...

Bishop Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, a 75-year-old bishop faithful to the Holy See, was released from detention on July 8, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation. Bishop Jia, whose ministry is not...

In a June address that was published on July 7, Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg offered strong criticism of the extraordinary form of the Mass and of what he characterizes as the “restorationist”...

Father Joseph Zhang Shulai, the vicar general of the underground Church in the Diocese of Ningxia, and Sister Mary Wei Yanhui, a nun, were murdered at the nursing home where they worked in Wuhai, a...

One week after Pope Benedict directed retired Bishop Walter Mixa to devote himself to “silence, meditation, and prayer,” the Pontiff on July 8 appointed a new bishop of Augsburg. Bishop Mixa’s...

Participants in the dialogue between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United Methodist Church met from June 28-30 to discuss the relation between the Eucharist and the...

“It’s little known to the public or to elite commentators in the national discourse,” notes Patrick Fagan, director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute at the Family Research Council....

Paying tribute to the late Romantic composer Gustav Mahler on the 150th anniversary of his birth, L’Osservatore Romano has reprinted a 1936 essay on Mahler by Bruno Walter, one of the leading...

New Vatican norms for the handling of sex-abuse complaints will treat abuse of mentally incompetent adults as equally serious as abuse of children, the AP reports. The Congregation for the...

President Hugo Chavez is leading Venezuela down the road to totalitarianism, warns Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas. After Chavez denounced him as a “troglodyte,” Cardinal Urosa fired back...

A prominent homosexual cleric has been passed over for the second time after being considered for appointment as a bishop of the Church of England, according to multiple media reports. Rev....

The state of Washington has agreed to adopt conscience-protection policies for pharmacists who find it morally repugnant to fill prescriptions for abortifacient pills. In a lawsuit filed by...

A Hindu militant leader accused of leading anti-Christian mobs in India’s eastern Orissa state has been released on bail, just a week after his conviction of murder charges made national...

Leaders of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) were questioned by Vatican officials in April about their group’s support for President Obama’s health-care bill, which the US bishops...

Prosecutors in Malaysia have brought three young Muslim militants to trial on charges of bombing a Christian church. The bombing was one of several such incidents that took place in January, as...

Following a death threat against a Church spokesman, Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore told the Fides news agency that “the central part of India, from east to west, is in the hand of Hindu...

In a ruling that applies only to Massachusetts but creates a potential precedent for other states, a US district judge has declared part of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Judge...

Claiming that Pope Benedict has handled “the pedophilia scandal with no great distinction,” The New York Times blasted the Pontiff in a July 9 editorial, calling upon him to apply the norms of the...

In the six months following the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 Haitians, the Church’s relief efforts have aided 2.3 million people at the cost of $46.8 million, according to a...

Three years after Daniel McCormack, then a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, was sentenced to a five-year prison term for the homosexual abuse of five minors, an additional lawsuit has been...

A 43-year-old monk who is a member of the underground Church in China has confessed to the recent murder of a priest and a nun, according to the Chinese state news agency. Father Joseph Zhang...

The National Catholic Register profiles Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid, Sudan, who presides over a poor and troubled diocese “on the front line of radical Islam.” Bishop Gassis expresses his...

A notorious late-term abortionist has called for more aggressive police action to curb pro-life activism. “Treat them like terrorists,” LeRoy Carhart suggested in an interview with the Boston...

Writing in the local Catholic newspaper, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis takes a hard look at the implications of the Fifth Commandment, particularly on disputed issues such as abortion,...

Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the retired Archbishop of Brussels, has lodged a complaint about media reports based on leaks from a secret police investigation of sex-abuse complaints. Cardinal...

William Oddie, the former editor of London’s Catholic Herald, argues that Cardinal Angelo Sodano should step down from his post as Dean of the College of Cardinals; otherwise, he suggests, a scandal...

The Catholic Health Association (CHA), which broke with the US bishops’ conference by endorsing President Obama’s health-care reform bill, has backed the White House plan again, applauding the...

New Vatican norms for the disciplinary handling of clerical misconduct could include treating the attempted ordination of women among the “most serious offenses” brought before the Congregation for...

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, as his delegate to supervise reform efforts in the Legion of...

Paving the way for the ordination of women bishops with full governing powers, the House of Clergy of the Church of England has rejected a compromise proposal put forward by Archbishop Rowan...

The Holy See’s 2009 budget showed a deficit of €4,102,156 ($5,186,556), four times 2008’s figure of $1.27 million, according to a statement released July 10 by the Council of Cardinals for the Study...

Six months after a devastating earthquake killed over 220,000 of the nation’s 8.8 million people, some 2 million Haitians are still living on the streets, according to the Fides news agency....

Reflecting upon the parable of the Good Samaritan during his July 11 Sunday Angelus address, Pope Benedict urged the faithful to act as “‘neighbors’ to whoever has need of help.” Quoting his 2005...

Following a student complaint, the University of Illinois refused to renew the contract of Dr. Kenneth Howell, an adjunct religion professor, who wrote in an e-mail that “Natural Moral Law says that...

At the conclusion of its annual meeting on July 11, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called upon President Benigno Aquino III “to listen to the call of the Philippine Church that...

Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who resigned in April after he admitted sexually abusing a minor, molested the boy-- his nephew-- over a period of eight years, according to Father Rik Devillé, a priest who...

Speaking on behalf of his brother bishops, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops...

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires has urged the faithful to participate in a massive rally on July 13 as the nation’s senate discusses the legalization of same-sex marriage. On...

A relic of the True Cross was stolen from Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross on June 30 or July 1, according to a Boston Globe article published on July 13. The relic was given to Boston’s first...

A religious-order priest who once served as a seminary rector in Africa and has taught at three Catholic colleges in the United States has been charged in Virginia with aggravated sexual battery of...

Father Henryk Jankowski, who offered the first Mass for striking Solidarity workers at the Gdansk shipyard in 1980, has died at the age of 73. “I saw around 8,500 people at the entrance gate,...

The heart of St. Camillus de Lellis, patron saint of the sick, was brought from Rome to Ireland on July 9 for the veneration of the faithful. The relic will be venerated in Westmeath, Dublin, and...

Lamenting the “violence and corruption” in their nation-- “the insecurity, the violent deaths in streets and prisons, and the outrageous loss of food and medicines”-- Venezuela’s bishops blasted...

By a 335-1 margin, France’s national assembly has voted to ban veils that cover the face. The nation’s senate is expected to approve the measure in September. Legislator Berengere Poletti called...

Father Jim Borst, a Dutch priest who has worked in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1963, has been ordered to leave the state by the end of the month. “It is a great loss for me and the...

A century after Japan’s annexation of Korea, a leading Japanese prelate has called upon his nation to conduct an honest examination of its past. “It is essential that we all re-examine...

The Holy See Press Office announced on July 13 that the theme of the 2011 World Day of Peace will be “religious freedom, the path of peace.” “As is well known, in many parts of the world there...

Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, has sent a message to Bishop Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, a 75-year-old bishop faithful to the Holy See who was...

During the transition between the surrender of Nazi Germany and the installation of a Communist regime in Waraw, members of the Polish diplomatic mission in Canada smuggled archival material-- 10%...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is recommending that Catholic youth register early for the next World Youth Day, which will begin on August 15, 2011, in Madrid. An estimated 600,000...

Visiting the headquarters of the Legion of Christ, the newly appointed papal delegate who will supervise the reform of the order announced that an extraordinary general chapter will be held “to...

Msgr. Antonio Xu Jiwei, ordained a priest in 1985 and now age 75, was consecrated bishop of Taizhou on July 10 with the approval both of the Holy See and of the Chinese government. Taizhou is a city...

Addressing the issue of immigration reform, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson told a congressional subcommittee on July 14 that “the US Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB] wholeheartedly agrees...

Despite population forecasts predicting that India will overtake China as the most populous nation in the world by 2050, India’s federal government has said emphatic no to adopt coercive measures to...

Pope Benedict has expressed his condolences following two bomb explosions in Kampala that left 74 dead. Somali terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility. “We are all deeply...

Bishop Thomas Dupré, who resigned from his position in 2004 and was later indicted on charges of raping two boys when he was a parish priest, pled the Fifth Amendment for three hours during a recent...

The six alleged Medjugorje visionaries will testify before a Vatican commission, most likely in early autumn, and will be asked to reveal the “secrets” with which they say they have been entrusted,...

The bishops of the Dominican Republic issued a statement at the close of their recent annual meeting lamenting the violence that is afflicting the Caribbean nation. “We are deeply concerned and...

The Holy See Press Office has published a revised edition of the 2001 norms dealing with clerical abuse of minors and other “exceptionally serious” crimes against faith and morals. “The norms of...

Following an outcry from pro-life advocates, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on July 14 that it would exclude abortion coverage from the new...

In a 33-27 vote, Argentina’s senate voted to legalize same-sex marriage on July 15. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires and other Argentine prelates had urged opposition to the measure,...

In an interview published July 15, Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, called the prospect of the appointment of women bishops in the Church of...

Bishop Blase Cupich, the bishop-designate of Spokane and chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Protection of Children and Young People, issued a statement on July 15 praising the inclusion of the...

Bishop Joseph Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam has suspended a parish priest, Father Paul Vlaar, who wore orange vestments-- the color of the Netherlands’ World Cup team-- during Sunday Mass on July 11....

Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington welcomed the inclusion of “the attempted...

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver issued a statement on July 13 announcing that Msgr. William Higgins, a priest who died in 1967, had been falsely accused of the sexual abuse of a minor. “More...

Judge Joseph Tauro ruled last week that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional insofar as it prohibits the distribution of federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally...

The first woman Lutheran bishop has resigned following reports that she may not have been truthful when she said that she had been unaware of abuse allegations against a Lutheran pastor until...

Reflecting upon the day’s Gospel reading (Lk. 10:38-42) during his July 18 Sunday Angelus address, Pope Benedict said that “listening to the Word of the Lord” is “the one thing that is truly...

Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Francis Chullikatt as the new Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. The July 17 appointment to one of the Holy See’s most important...

Parishioners are “furious” with Bishop Joseph Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam for suspending their parish priest, Father Paul Vlaar, according to a Radio Netherlands report. Father Vlaar wore orange...

The Vatican was the target of a cyber attack on July 17. Those who typed “Vatican” into Google’s search engine were directed to the web site pedofilio.com. Google apologized for the problem, which...

The administrative council of the Populorum Progressio Foundation will meet in the Dominican Republic from July 20-23 to consider 230 proposals for funding development projects in Latin America and...

After determining that the accusations were false, police in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have released two Christians accused of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed. Rashid Emmanuel, a...

In a July 19 action alert sent via e-mail, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development urged Catholics to call their senators to support the...

The presidents of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament took part in their sixth annual meeting with religious leaders on July 19. Bishop Adrianus van Luyn of...

Following the passage of a state law that permits religious leaders to allow worshippers to carry concealed weapons, Louisiana’s bishops have announced that Catholics will not be permitted to bring...

With the approval of the Holy See and the consent of Chinese authorities, another bishop has been ordained in China. Msgr. John Baptist Yang Xiaoting, 46, was ordained coadjutor Bishop of Yan’an, a...

Pope Benedict XVI has removed Thomas Crum, 61, from the priesthood, following three allegations of abuse. The priest was serving as a pastor at a parish in the Diocese of Youngstown last year when a...

Calling alcohol abuse “a national disgrace” and citing figures stating that “25% of 15-16 years olds in this country get drunk at least three times a month,” an Irish bishop said that “many children...

The New Statesman has published a lengthy interview with Ann Widdecombe, a convert to Catholicism who served in Parliament from 1987 to 2010 and is rumored to be a leading candidate to become the...

Two Pakistani Christians acquitted of blasphemy charges were murdered on July 19 as they left the courthouse. A police officer who accompanied them was injured in the attack. Rashid Emmanuel and...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, praised Pope Benedict and blasted Protestant bodies that have accepted women’s ordination and caved in to the...

Bishops in Kerala-- the southwestern Indian state that has been the Church’s stronghold in India since its evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle-- told the faithful in a July 18 pastoral letter...

The Church’s highest tribunal has upheld a ruling by the Congregation for the Clergy supporting Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s decision to close nine Boston parishes. “The Archdiocese is in receipt of...

National Public Radio has published a profile of the Church in China, focusing on moves towards reconciliation in recent years. The profile includes bitter criticism of the Vatican by the head of...

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has concluded its investigation into the cure of a 27-year-old woman who had suffered from sarcoma and bone marrow cancer. The cure is being attributed to the...

The Archdiocese of Baltimore on July 20 concluded the diocesan phase of the canonization cause of Father Patrick Peyton (1909-1992), the “Rosary priest” famous for the adage, “The family that prays...

As Chile prepares to celebrate its bicentennial, the nation’s bishops are urging President Sebastian Pinera to foster human rights by reforming the nation’s prisons. The bishops also requested that...

German prosecutors have ended their investigation of Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German bishops’ conference, who had been accused of transferring a Cistercian priest accused of...

An American priest who leads an AIDS treatment program in Namibia says that a decision by Obama administration to place greater emphasis on funding governments rather than faith-based organizations...

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma city has concluded the diocesan phase of the canonization cause of Father Stanley Rother (1935-81), a missionary slain in Guatemala. Father Rother translated the Bible...

A 44-year-old man has filed suit against the Diocese of Manchester (New Hampshire) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, claiming he was abused approximately 100 times by Father George St. Jean, who...

A second person has alleged abuse by Father Joseph Kelleher, a retired 82-year-old priest of the Diocese of Charlotte. Supporters of the priest, who was born in Ireland, have held vigils in two...

The July 22 edition of L’Osservatore Romano paid tribute to Cécile Guérard, whose 2006 work on the sea (Philosophie légère de la mer) is now available in Italian. Pierluigi Natalia, the author of...

The Catholic Church will never “register civil partnerships” or “celebrate same-sex unions,” Bishop Philip Tartaglia emphasized in a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron. The letter...

In a July 20 statement, the bishops of Zambia announced their opposition to a constitution drafted by the National Constitutional Conference. “The common good has always been sacrificed for...

An Australian bishop has issued a pastoral letter in which he offers a “sincere apology to those who have suffered abuse at the hands of a member of the clergy or indeed, any person representing the...

Catholics United, a politically liberal advocacy group, has announced that it will raise $500,000 to support the candidacies of four Catholic congressmen who, over the objections of the nation’s...

A new children’s book based on Pope Benedict’s general audiences on the apostles has been published in Italy. Gli amici di Gesù [The Friends of Jesus] includes an introduction by Father Julian...

The Diocese of Joliet is receiving criticism over its decision to purchase a four-bedroom, $300,000 home for Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Siegel. The property is located in an exclusive neighborhood; the...

A dog has received communion at an Anglican parish in Toronto. Pets are permitted in the church. “The minister welcomed me and said come up and take communion, and Trapper [the dog] came up with...

The July 23 edition of L’Osservatore Romano paid tribute to Erik Peterson (1890-1960), a theologian who specialized in early Christianity and converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism in Rome in...

President Sebastian Pinera of Chile has rejected a call by the nation’s bishops to consider pardoning some persons convicted of human rights violations during the military regime of Augusto Pinochet...

Ireland’s newest bishop compared recent reaction to the clerical abuse scandal to a “surgeon’s knife” that “has been painful but necessary.” “Society has forced us in the Irish Church to look...

Over 50,000 European altar servers-- 44,000 of them from Germany-- will meet with Pope Benedict on August as part of a pilgrimage organized by Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium. The association...

Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse who serves as diocese chaplain of the Knights of Columbus and at one time served as diocesan webmaster, has been suspended from ministry...

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 441, some 20,000 Irish Catholics ascended Croagh Patrick, the mountain where St. Patrick fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. “The truth of past pain is...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America has recently awarded $212,700 in grants to ten projects in Haiti. The January 12 earthquake there killed...

Pope Benedict XVI has granted sweeping authority to the prelate who will supervise the reform of the Legion of Christ. Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the Pope’s delegate, will have authority over...

The ordination of several new Chinese bishops, approved by both the Vatican and the Beijing regime, have been highlighted in Rome as signs of progress toward genuine religious freedom in China. But...

Responding to a magazine’s reports on widespread homosexuality in the priesthood, the Pope’s vicar for the city of Rome has challenged gay clerics to amend their lives or leave the...

Benedictine nuns at a French abbey that traces its heritage back to the 6th century have won a recording contract with Decca Records. The sisters of Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation, outside Avignon,...

The Sagrada Familia—the Barcelona church that was the masterpiece of the late architect Antoni Gaudi, may be endangered by the construction of a high-speed railway tunnel near its foundation,...

At his Angelus audience on Sunday, July 25, Pope Benedict XVI said that those who pray are never alone. Commenting on the text of the Lord’s Prayer, the Holy Father observed that when the...

Pope Benedict XVI mentioned his plan to travel to Spain in November during his midday audience on Sunday, July 25. Speaking to a crowd gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel...

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has joined the Catholic bishops of Pakistan in a call for repeal of that country’s blasphemy law. In a letter to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and...

Organizers of Pope Benedict’s trip to Great Britain in September are facing criticism for seeking payment from those attending papal ceremonies. Church officials in Great Britain have announced...

Bishop Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini of Locri-Gerace, Italy, has called upon Mafia leaders to cease the practice of holding initiation ceremonies at Catholic shrines. Reacting to the release of police...

The St. Louis archdiocese and the leaders of the rebellious St. Stanislaus Kostka parish are weighing a proposed settlement that could end a long legal fight for control of the church, and allow the...

The Vatican Library, which has been closed during a 3-year renovation project, will reopen in September, the institution’s prefect has confirmed. Msgr. Cesare Pasini told Vatican Radio that the...

During his summer vacation, Pope Benedict XVI has been devoting his free time to work on the third and final volume of his work on Jesus, the Pope’s spokesman has disclosed. In a weekly...

Colombian diplomats have charged that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has become a main source of support and financing for the FARC rebels who have troubled Colombia for...

On the eve of President Benigno Aquino III’s first state of the nation address, the Philippine bishops issued a pastoral exhortation denouncing legislative proposals on sex education and population...

Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad-- the city in which two Christian brothers were murdered on July 19 following their acquittal on blasphemy charges-- is again urging Pakistani police to apprehend...

A survey of over 3,000 Californians conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in June has found that Catholics strongly support the legal recognition of homosexual unions. Only 22% of...

Following heated controversy, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York will not sell an unused parish convent to the Muslim American Society for use as a mosque. Father Keith Fennessy had signed a...

Singling out The New York Times, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York blasted media coverage of the Vatican’s revised norms for the clerical abuse of minors and other exceptionally serious...

Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice (Florida) has placed a popular Polish priest on administrative leave for unspecified reasons. “If you worked at the bank or Naples Daily News and these accusations,...

The bishop of one of the world’s least populous dioceses is encouraging women to overcome cultural barriers and run for local political office. Bishop Vincent Boi-Nai is the first bishop of Yendi,...

Speaking to Vatican Radio after an international theological convention in Trent, an American Jesuit said that the Church needs to “find the tradition as it needs to be now, in light of what it once...

The director of the Vatican Museums has disclosed that a recently discovered painting, which L’Osservatore Romano identified as the work of Caravaggio, is actually the work of a lesser artist....

A visit by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine has been marred by angry protests leading to multiple arrests, frustrating the Russian prelate’s efforts to promote Orthodox unity....

The Spanish government has imposed a €100,000 fine on the Intereconomia television network for broadcasting ads that criticized homosexual demonstrators. The ads included footage of grotesque...

Jesuit officials in Great Britain plan to appeal a court’s decision ordering a payment of nearly $8 million to a sex-abuse victim. The judgment—the largest ever in Britain for such a case—came in a...

The head of child-protection efforts for the Catholic bishops of England and Wales has said that the Vatican should remove any statute of limitations for disciplinary action against priests who...

A bishop of the Episcopal Church has announced that he is aware of at least nine allegations of sexual abuse against one of his predecessors. On July 11, Bishop Sean Rowe of the Episcopal Diocese...

Sudan’s bishops have issued a pastoral letter on the January 2011 referendum that will determine whether the southern part of the nation secedes and forms a new nation. Noting that the government...

El Salvador’s leading prelate has called for the repeal of Arizona’s controversial immigration law. “We are all against the law,” said Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador. “We...

The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) began its fifteenth plenary assembly in Accra on July 27. The theme of the assembly-- the first since last October's synod of...

The Diocese of Marquette (Michgian) has completed its investigation into a cure attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God Frederic Baraga (1797-1868), a Slovenian missionary who became...

A New Hampshire Catholic college is establishing medieval-style guilds in woodworking, baking, sacred art, and music to complement its academic curriculum. “It is important for students to...

Leading African prelates called for encouragement of native entrepreneurs during a meeting of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Nigerian...

The Vatican is enforcing longstanding rules requiring modesty in dress. Tourists visiting St. Peter’s basilica, and natives of Rome using the Vatican pharmacy or post office, are being gently turned...

Some Cambodian Catholics have complained that the 35-year prison sentence imposed on a key figure in the genocidal regime of the 1970s is too light, UCAN reports. Kaing Guek Eay, popularly known...

In a commentary for Radio Free Europe (RFE), Vitaly Portnikov argues that Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is seeking to assert greater control over the Orthodox world, particularly in Ukraine. The...

Traditionalist Anglicans in Canada have voted overwhelmingly in favor of union with the Roman Catholic Church. The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), meeting for a provincial synod in...

Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha has called the faithful to organize in opposition to the opening of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in the Nebraska city. “Make your voice heard in opposition to the...

The bishops of Arizona welcomed a federal judge’s July 28 ruling that prevented parts of Arizona’s controversial immigration law from taking effect. “We, the Roman Catholic Bishops in Arizona,...

Distressed by the Irish hierarchy’s response to the abuse scandal, some Irish priests are forming a new association whose aim is to represent the nation’s priests in their dealings with...

An Australian archbishop has expressed concern that the nation’s new prime minister, Julia Gillard, is an atheist. The prime minister assumed office on June 24. “While there is no indication that...

In a July 28 independence day message, the bishops of Peru called upon the nation’s citizens to remember the needs of the poorest Peruvians. “The situation of Peru's poorest citizens should not...

The gay community in Chile is reacting with indignation to recent comments by 83-year-old Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez, who led the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the...

A 76-year-old Tennessee priest who admitted committing homosexual abuse in the late 1970s was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $500 fine on July 28. Warren Tucker alleges that Father...

The leaders of the Congregation for Evangelization has sent a special message to Catholic bishops priests in China, thanking them for their service and acknowledging “how some of you suffered in the...

Cardinal Joseph Zen issued a strong caution against the belief that the Chinese government is willing to cooperate with the Holy See on the appointment of Catholic bishops. The retired bishop of...

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued a memo indicating that an executive order by President Barack Obama does not fully resolve the issue of abortion funding in the new health-care...

An Irish Catholic bishop has announced plans to release documented evidence of misconduct by British troops in the killing of 11 people at Ballymurphy in August 1971. Bishop Noel Treanor of...

Lawyers representing the Catholic nun who was raped during the mass violence against Christians in India’s state of Orissa in August 2008 now believe that prosecutors can proceed with the case, free...

The second volume of Pope Benedict’s 3-volume work on Jesus of Nazareth will be published in English by Ignatius Press early next year. The first volume of the Pope’s work, published in 2009,...

The Vatican Museums will soon open a room dedicated to the work of Henri Matisse, featuring the French artist’s “Stations of the Cross,” a set of three enormous drawings that were donated to the...

A priest of the “underground” Catholic Church in China who was released from prison after a 3-year term was immediately re-arrested, the AsiaNews service reports. Father Peter Wang of the Xiwanzi...

Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has announced that the United Kingdom will “put family planning at the heart of its approach to women’s health in the developing world.” The nation’s...

The chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Migration has joined the bishops of Arizona in praising a federal judge’s July 28 ruling that prevented parts of Arizona’s controversial immigration law...

Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, one of Africa’s leading prelates, has lauded a decision by Congolese President Joseph Kabila to proclaim the late Cardinal Joseph-Albert Malula a...

By a 121-0 vote, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution stating that access to drinking water and sanitation is a human right. The United States and 40 other nations...

Recent torrential rain has left 26,000 homeless in Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest nations, notes Caritas Internationalis, the international consortium of Catholic relief and development...

Two months after a man who alleged abuse by a Pittsburgh priest committed suicide at a psychiatric facility in Massachusetts, the man’s family has filed suit against the Diocese of Pittsburgh....

Pope Benedict XVI attended an advance screening of a film about his pontificate on July 29 at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. After watching Five years of Pope Benedict XVI, by the...

An Oxford University professor has charged that she suffered discrimination after her conversion to Christianity. Tali Argov, who came from Israel to teach in Jewish studies, says that her faculty...

An Iraqi Christian businessman was abducted outside his office in Kirkuk on July 29, in the latest of a series of targeted attacks on the country’s religious minority. Yonan Daniel Mammo, a...

The Vatican has announced the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for August 2010. The Pope’s general intention is: "That those who are without work or homes or who are otherwise in serious need...

City officials in Jerusalem are threatening to cut off the supply of water for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the AsiaNews service reports. The city has provided free water service to the...

In a remarkable display of ecumenical solidarity, the Christian leaders of Kenya have issued a statement opposing a new draft constitution, saying that the document “in its current form is not good...

The University of Illinois has offered to reinstate a Catholic faculty member who was dismissed after he explained Church teachings on homosexuality. University officials announced that they...

An Irish bishop has released a group of previously unpublished documents that point to serious misconduct by British troops in shootings that caused 11 deaths and multiple injuries in Northern...