Vatican, other faith leaders join in push for end of death penalty in US state of Louisiana
United StatesRNS The Vatican has joined US faith leaders and anti-death penalty activists in supporting the Louisiana Governor’s desire to clear the death row cells in his state. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Catholic Democrat, called in August for the Louisiana Board of Pardons to reconsider applications for clemency of 56 prisoners on the state’s […]
Vatican praises US court abortion decision, saying it challenges world
Vatican CityReuters The Vatican’s Academy for Life on Friday praised the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, saying it challenged the world to reflect on life issues, but also called for social changes to help women keep their children. The Vatican department also said in a statement that the defence of human life could not […]
Vatican archbishop to bring Pope Francis’ take on being pro-life to the United States
Vatican City RNS Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who heads the Vatican’s thinktank on life issues, arrived in New York on Monday hoping to disarm Americans’ well-defended positions on the topic by talking about what it means to be pro-life in the Catholic Church today. “Sometimes, in the United States, but not only there, the pro-life perspective […]
The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life takes on vaccine sceptics on social media
Vatican CityRNS In a tweet laden with backstory and pointed frustration, the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life defended the COVID-19 vaccine and called out those who spread “malinformation” to discredit the vaccine as peddling “pure nonsense”. The Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican’s thinktank dedicated to protecting life from conception to natural death, took to […]
Amid global vaccine inequality, Vatican weighs ethics of booster shots
Vatican CityRNS While Catholic US President Joe Biden received his third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts at the Vatican on Tuesday considered the ethics of such “booster shot” distribution in wealthy countries when many in other parts of the world have yet to receive the first dose. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who heads the Pontifical […]
Vatican seeks all-out effort to combat vaccine hesitancy
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican’s bioethics academy and the World Medical Association on Friday called for an all-out effort to combat vaccine hesitancy and correct the “myths and disinformation” that are slowing the fight against the coronavirus. In a joint statement, the groups said some vaccine reluctance in poorer countries is rooted in historical inequalities and […]
Vatican seeks elder care rethink after COVID-19 “massacre”
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican is calling for a new paradigm of care for older people after what it calls the “massacre” wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately killed people living in nursing homes. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council of Life issued a position paper Tuesday that made the case for a global rethink of […]
Black Jesus version of Michelangelo’s ‘Pietà’ divides Catholics on race and politics
Vatican CityRNS An interpretation of Michelangelo’s iconic ‘Pietà’ featuring a Black Jesus has unexpectedly caused a debate about Black Lives Matter, the sanctity of art and the evangelisation of Africa after the Pontifical Academy of Life, an official Vatican thinktank, tweeted out a photo of the reimagined statue on 12th September. The tweet, posted by […]
Vatican official criticises ‘senseless politics’ in US and UK surrounding pandemic response
Vatican CityRNS Vatican official Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia called for solidarity among and within nations to address the COVID-19 pandemic and voiced disappointment at the Unites States’ decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization. “International and national health organizations, which admittedly have made some mistakes, should not be dismantled but strengthened,” said Paglia, the head […]