Divert weapons money to pandemic research, Pope says at prayer marathon
Reuters Pope Francis kicked off a month-long marathon of worldwide Roman Catholic prayer on Saturday to ask God for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, and said money spent on armaments should be used instead to prevent future outbreaks. Francis presided at the recital of the rosary in St Peter’s Basilica on the first day […]
Israel observes day of mourning for religious festival dead
Jerusalem, IsraelReuters Israel observed a day of mourning on Sunday for 45 people crushed to death at a Jewish religious festival, with flags lowered to half-staff and questions raised about accountability for one of the country’s worst civilian disasters. In accordance with Jewish tradition, funerals were held with as little delay as possible. More than […]
Crowds gather for Holy Fire ceremony at Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre
Jerusalem, IsraelReuters Orthodox Christians flocked to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday to celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony, gathering in far greater numbers than last year because coronavirus restrictions have eased. The Holy Fire ceremony, symbolising Jesus’s resurrection, is one of the most colourful spectacles of the Orthodox Easter season, usually attended by […]
Sudan’s basic income scheme aims to ease economic pain
Khartoum, SudanReuters For Intisar Altayib, who ekes out a living drawing henna tattoos in Khartoum, soaring prices in Sudan mean running up tabs at local stores and cutting back on evening feasts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. She is one of millions struggling through an economic crisis that has deepened as Sudan tries […]
Pope removes legal privileges for Vatican cardinals, bishops
Reuters Pope Francis ruled on Friday that bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican will be judged by the same lay tribunal that hears other criminal cases and no longer by an elite panel of prelates. Francis issued a decree abrogating a provision in the Vatican’s civil criminal code whereby bishops and cardinals were […]
The President and abortion: US Catholic bishops may press Biden to stop taking Communion
DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, reports on how US Catholic bishops are grappling with President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion rights…
Last of group of 10 Catholic hostages, including two French nationals, freed in Haiti
Port-au-Prince, HaitReuters The last six of 10 hostages who were kidnapped in Haiti earlier this month were released on Friday, including four Catholic priests and two French citizens, according to a senior church leader of the Caribbean nation. The group of 10, five priests and two nuns among them, were initially taken at gunpoint from […]