ESSAY: POPE FRANCIS PUNTS ON MARRIED PRIESTS
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks the Pope’s response to the Amazon synod’s recommendations issued this week…
ESSAY: ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS HAVE BEEN CELIBATE FOR A 1,000 YEARS – BUT THAT COULD CHANGE
In an article first published on The Conversation, HELEN PARISH, a professor in history at the University of Reading in the UK, looks at the debate over priestly celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church…
Pope Francis condemns ecological sins and Nazi-inspired rhetoric
Vatican CityRNS A day after the US Catholic bishops declared the fight against abortion their most urgent priority at their fall meeting in Baltimore, prioritizing it over protection of the environment, Pope Francis set the record straight in a scathing speech at the Vatican on Friday in which he condemned “ecological sins”. Speaking to a […]
Pope criticises cultural discrimination in new book of interviews from Amazon synod
Vatican CityRNS In a book of interviews published Tuesday, Pope Francis discussed his vision for a missionary church and criticised groups that discriminate against other cultures and view them as unworthy of receiving the Gospel. “There are circles and sectors that present themselves as ilustrados (enlightened) – they sequester the proclamation of the gospel through a distorted […]
As Amazon synod closes, bishops ask the Pope to allow married priests
Vatican CityRNS Bishops voted on the final document of their Vatican summit on the Pan-Amazonian region on Saturday, taking preliminary steps forward toward the ordination of married men to the priesthood, the female diaconate and the creation of an Amazonian Rite. The bishops approved with a two thirds majority all the 140 paragraphs in the […]
Final Amazon synod document expected to mention female deacons
Vatican CityRNS As word spread that the final document of the Amazon synod will include recommendations about the ordination of women to the diaconate, bishops involved in the synod have taken a stand asking for more female participation and leadership in the Catholic Church. “The participation of women in society and in the church is […]
Bishops worry divisions on “details” at synod distract from big picture
Vatican CityRNS Halfway into a three-week gathering of bishops at the Vatican to discuss the Amazon region, participants warned that inside divisions over ordination or inculturation risk missing the forest, so to speak, for the trees. “In focusing only on certain themes, there is the risk of losing the broader outlook,” said the Vatican’s chief […]
At Amazon synod, women insist that equality should mean the right to vote
Vatican CityRNS Catholic women attending the summit of bishops at the Vatican on the Amazon region praised the climate of inclusivity and openness ushered in by Pope Francis but insisted that equality demands they also have a right to vote. “As many other religious women, we believe we have come to the point that our […]
ESSAY: AMAZONIAN BISHOPS CONDEMN ATTACKS ON RAINFOREST AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks back at this week’s Amazon Synod…
Two-thirds of Amazon Catholic bishops support married priests, says Brazil bishop
Vatican CityRNS According to one Brazil bishop attending the Vatican summit on the Amazon region, a majority of Brazilian bishops are in favor of allowing the ordination of married men to the priesthood. “Of the bishops who are in the Amazon region, I guess two-thirds are in favour of the viri probati,” said Emeritus Bishop Erwin […]