Church leaders in Kenya give qualified support for plan to close orphanages
Nairobi, Kenya RNS Amid a growing push among child welfare organisations to reunite families rather than keep children in institutional homes, Kenyan authorities are set to adopt a new national program that will phase out traditional orphanages over the next decade. Church leaders in the country, whose denominations run hundreds of orphanages, have expressed support […]
Christian leaders work to heal the wounds of Angola’s civil war
Nairobi, Kenya Christian leaders in Angola have launched reconciliation programs aimed at healing the wounds of the civil war that ended over two decades ago, leaving nearly one million people dead and displacing four million. Between 1975 and 2002, the Southern African nation of now more than 35 million people was embroiled in one of […]
Spain sets up fund for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy
Madrid, Spain Reuters Spain is to set up a fund, to be financed largely by the Catholic Church, to compensate an estimated 440,000 victims of decades of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, staff or teachers, the justice minister announced on Tuesday. A report in October by Spain’s human rights ombudsman produced the estimate from a […]
Essay: How clean water and faith go hand-in-hand
In an article first published on Religion News Service, SUSAN BARNETT, founder of Faiths for Safe Water, says clean water is a conduit of care and love…
Maurizio Cattalan, Zoe Saldana join iconoclastic Vatican Biennale exhibition inside women’s prison
Venice, Italy AP A pair of nude feet – dirty, wounded and vulnerable – are painted on the façade of the Venice women’s prison chapel. It’s the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and part of the Vatican’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale contemporary art show in an innovative collaboration between inmates and artists. That […]
“Voice of a people”: Unfazed by danger and power, Guatemalan cardinal keeps up fight for migrants and the poor
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, reports on the work of Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini…
Pope Francis sides with Peruvian villagers who accused Catholic group of trying to steal their land
Quito, Ecuador AP Pope Francis on Saturday sided with a group of Peruvian villagers who have complained that companies linked to a powerful South American church group have tried to evict them from their land using lawsuits and obscure land titling schemes. In a video recorded at his residence in the Vatican, the Pope sent a […]
Vatican complains after French court rules in favour of nun dismissed from religious order
Rome, Italy AP The Holy See said Saturday it formally protested to France after a court there ruled that a former high-ranking Vatican official was liable for what the court determined to be the wrongful dismissal of a nun from a religious order. The Lorient tribunal on 3rd April ruled in favour of the nun, […]
US Catholics more polarised than ever about still-popular Pope Francis, survey says
United States RNS US Catholics are more polarised than ever in how they view Pope Francis, even though majorities on both ends of the political spectrum have a positive view of the Pope, according to a new survey. Pew Research Center, in a report released on Friday, found that three-quarters of US Catholics (75 per […]
Pope will travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in longest trip of papacy
Vatican City AP Pope Francis will visit Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore in September, the Vatican announced Friday, confirming the longest trip of Francis’ papacy that is sure to test his health, stamina and mobility. The Vatican confirmed the 2nd to 13th September visit, saying the 87-year-old Pope would visit Jakarta, Indonesia; Port […]