Catholic World News

The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has argued in an editorial that a Coptic papyrus fragment, which appears to refer to a wife of Jesus, is “a fake.” The editorial notes that many...

A Vatican tribunal granted one defense motion and denied another in the opening session of the “Vatileaks” trial of Paolo Gabriele. Gabriele, the former valet to Pope Benedict XVI, is charged...

The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) has adopted a resolution calling upon American political leaders to protect marriage, citing “the best available published scientific evidence” that shows...

An Italian writer has touched off a lively debate by suggesting that the Vatican should limit access to the Sistine Chapel to protect the artwork from “drunken herds” of tourists. Pietro Citati,...

A newly appointed Israeli ambassador to the Vatican has said that he hopes for a quick conclusion of talks leading to a diplomatic accord between his nation and the Holy See. Zion Evrony, a...

Pope Benedict XVI pleaded for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo during his public audience on Sunday, September 30. The eastern region of the African nation has been torn by fighting...

Hopes for a reconciliation of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) with the Vatican have faded, according to a Reuters analysis. Bishop Bernard Fellay, the head of the SSPX, has not yet formally...

Catholics should rejoice at the good works done by non-Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI told his Angelus audience on Sunday, September 30. Reflecting on the day’s reading from the Gospel of St. Mark,...

A Protestant prelate was battered into unconsciousness by a Muslim mob that attacked his church outside Lahore on September 28, threatening to kill Christians in retaliation against the release of...

Authorities in Laos have arrested 3 Protestant ministers in a crackdown on religious groups. Human-rights groups report that Protestant leaders face “harsh prison conditions” in Laos, where they...

Preaching at the Archdiocese of Washington’s annual Red Mass, which invokes the Holy Spirit’s blessings upon the upcoming judicial year, Archbishop Timothy Broglio recalled St. Thomas More. “The...

On October 4, Pope Benedict will make a pilgrimage to Loreto to entrust to the Blessed Mother the upcoming Year of Faith and Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. On October 4, 1962, Blessed...

The Holy See has announced that the theme for the 47th World Communications Day will be “social networks: portals of truth and faith, new spaces for evangelization.” Pope Benedict’s message for...

Pope Benedict gathered with religious and civil officials at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence, to thank them for their assistance during his time of “study, prayer, and rest” there. “In the...

As the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops concluded its fall meeting, the conference’s president spoke to Vatican Radio about the importance of the new evangelization. “What the bishops want...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a Holy Hour for Life and Religious Liberty for use during the month of October to complement its recently announced special Mass and...

Pope Benedict XVI has said his goodbyes to the staff of the apostolic palace in Castel Gandolfo, as he prepares to end his annual stay at the papal summer residence. “Everything in this world is...

One child was killed and 6 others badly injured when a grenade exploded at a Catholic church during Sunday-school classes. Residents suspect that the explosion at St. Polycarp’s church in Nairobi...

If Paolo Gabriele is convicted of stealing confidential Vatican documents, Pope Benedict XVI is likely to grant a pardon to his former valet, in the opinion of an influential Vatican...

A federal judge in Missouri has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a St. Louis businessman who argued that the mandated coverage of contraceptives in the new federal health-care program violates his...

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the retired Archbishop of Westminster, has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI told him that he should not accept a seat in the House of Lords. In 2009, British...

Pope Benedict XVI will focus on social networks in his annual message for the World Day of Communications, the Vatican has disclosed. The World Day of Communications is celebrated by the Church...

In an October 1 address to the UN General Assembly, the Vatican’s chief foreign-policy official has warned that the peacekeeping role of the UN is threatened by a worldwide “crisis of confidence” in...

In a profile of Cardinal Raymond Burke, David Gibson of the Religion News service says that the American prelate exercises an increasing influence over the Vatican’s perception of—and appointments...

The Smithsonian Channel has pulled back from plans to promote a story about the papyrus fragment referring to a wife of Jesus, after a number of scholars expressed doubts about the authenticity of...

Speaking at Catholic Charities USA’s annual gathering, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum urged the agency to draw strength from its Catholic identity and take part in the new...

Following the posting on Facebook of a picture of a burnt copy of the Qur’an, a mob of more than 20,000 Muslims in Bangladesh burned 22 Buddhist temples, two Hindu temples, and over 100...

At the conclusion of its annual meeting, which took place in Switzerland, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) issued a statement mourning anti-Christian hostility in...

Recalling the example of nineteenth-century missionaries to Tibet whose “zeal and boldness” had to be restrained by their superiors, the prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of...

Three witnesses whose testimony had supported Rimsha Masih, the 14-year-old Christian girl accused of burning pages of the Qur’an, have recanted. The three had told police that they had seen a...

The New York Times has published a photo essay on “women as priests.” “I photographed priests and bishops of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement to alter my own deep-seated perception of...

Tyndale House, the publisher of various Bible translations and the Left Behind series, has filed suit against the HHS mandate after the Department of Health and Human Services denied it a...

For the second time in three weeks, a church in the Holy Land has been vandalized with graffiti. A leading Israeli newspaper reported that “Jewish extremists” are suspected of carrying out the...

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore discussed the challenges the Church faces from the HHS mandate and efforts to change the definition of...

On the eve of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s installation in San Francisco, the Episcopal Church’s bishop of California has written a letter to his faithful attacking the stand of the Catholic...

“We need death panels,” begins a recent New York Times op-ed by Steven Rattner, who served as “car czar” early in the Obama administration. “Well, maybe not death panels, exactly, but unless we...

Writing for L’Osservatore Romano, a Boston College theology professor called upon his fellow theologians to be faithful to the Church’s teaching. “The work of theology, though not reducible to...

In the Philippines, law-enforcement officials investigating the smuggling of ivory have complained that they were refused entry at a Catholic shrine, where a priest who is a focus of their...

The French government has set forth a proposal to provide full public funding for abortions. In France today, women pay about 80% of the cost of an abortion. The government said full state...

Speaking to the Catholic Medical Association, Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa, California, has warned that many doctors in the US are “going to be forced to do something they may not want to...

The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) called attention to new restraints on religious freedom, during a seminar at the European Parliament. The COMECE...

Paolo Gabriele, the former valet to Pope Benedict XVI, admitted that he had betrayed the Pontiff by taking confidential documents from the Vatican, but denied that he was guilty of theft, during...

At his public audience on October 3, Pope Benedict XVI said that a life of prayer means “dwelling habitually in the presence of God and knowing Him.” The Holy Father, who has been devoting his...

As he concluded his regular weekly public audience on Wednesday, October 3, Pope Benedict XVI asked for prayers for the success of the Synod of Bishops, which will discuss the New...

An Italian man climbed out onto the roof of St. Peter’s basilica and unfurled a banner protesting the European Union, forcing Vatican officials to seek help from Italian authorities to bring him...

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “the problems that we had after the [Second Vatican] Council were not...

Members of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram entered a student residence near a northeastern Nigerian university, separated Christian from Muslim students, and executed 25 to 30...

The Greek Orthodox archbishop of Homs, who has fled to Aleppo, is pleading with Western nations not to arm either side of the Syrian conflict. “I took refuge here after the offensive on Homs,”...

The birth rate for US women of childbearing age hit a record low in 2011, as did the teen birth rate, according to newly released statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. The birth rate...

Praising a federal court decision that dismissed a challenge to the HHS mandate, a New York Times editorial blasted bishops and others who have raised concerns about the mandate’s threat to...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced the agenda for its fall meeting, which will take place from November 12-15 in Baltimore. The bishops are scheduled to discuss...

Pope Benedict XVI made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto on October 4, a week before the opening of the Synod of Bishops. The Pope’s pilgrimage replicates a trip by Blessed John...

Vatican police reported finding thousands of documents and press clippings in the home of Paolo Gabriele as the trial of the former papal valet continued. Silvano Carli, a Vatican police...

An Italian man was placed under arrest after he was coaxed off the roof of St. Peter’s basilica, ending a dramatic protest against the European Union. Marcello De Finizio, who had escaped from a...

A DNA test has proven that Cardinal Franc Rode, the former prefect of the Congregation for Religious, cannot be the father of a German man who claimed to be the prelate’s son. The Slovenian...

The Vatican’s representative in Chile has confirmed public reports that Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes of Iquique is under investigation because of complaints of sexual abuse. Bishop Ordenes—who...

A retired Filipino prelate has told reporters that he accepted a priest for ministry, after he was charged with sexual abuse in the US, under an agreement with the accused priest’s religious...

Russian officials are barring the construction of Islamic mosques in regions where the population is composed primarily of ethnic Russians, the Forum 18 news service reports. The construction of...

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, has issued a statement welcoming the election of Richard Clarke as the new leaders of the (Anglican ) Church of Ireland. Cardinal Brady...

Greg Tobin, author of a biography of Blessed John XXIII, recalls the life of the beloved Pontiff who convened Vatican II, and assesses the odds of his canonization. Tobin reminds readers that...

Political theorist Patrick Dineen makes the argument that the contraceptive mandate in President Obama’s health-care policy reflects an understanding of human rights that can be traced to the...

The UN’s human-rights commissioner has argued that governments have a responsibility to prevent “retrogressive measures” regarding abortion—in other words, efforts to restrict legal abortion in...

Pope Benedict XVI completed a pilgrimage to Loreto on October 4, in preparation for next week’s opening of the Synod of Bishops. Arriving in Loreto by helicopter (to the surprise of some...

Chinese officials are requiring all clerics and religious in the Shanghai diocese to undergo “re-education” programs, in a continuing crackdown on Catholics following the public resignation of...

The UN’s council on human rights has approved a resolution stating that an acceptance of traditional moral principles is important to the promotion of peace and the protection of human rights around...

On the day that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was installed as the head of the San Francisco archdiocese, the former director of the archdiocesan office of Catholic Charities published an op-ed...

In the continuation of an interview with the National Catholic Register, Archbishop Gerhard Müller, the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks about two high-profile...

An Illinois newspaper editorial scolds Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield for his statement on the moral responsibilities of Catholic voters. The State Journal-Register disagrees with the...

In his inimitable style, Father George William Rutler ponders the willingness of the mass media to accept outlandish new “discoveries” whenever they appear to contradict orthodox Christian belief....

Russian Orthodox priests will be given permission to run for office, the Moscow patriarchate has said. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church ruled that priests are permitted to seek...