Pope Francis says “We are all in the same boat”, during Urbi et Orbi ceremony
Vatican CityRNS As the world grapples with the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis delivered a homily of hope on Friday, comparing the pandemic to a storm that can be overcome only by coming together in faith. “We have realised that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at […]
Newman poised to be “saint of friendship” in today’s polarised church
Vatican CityRNS Cardinal John Henry Newman, a Catholic convert who was able to bridge the divide with the Anglican Church and was among the most respected theologians of the 19th century, will become a saint on Sunday (13th October), as Catholicism faces new divisions from within. “Some people say this is a battle for the soul […]
Vatican says China intimidating Catholics loyal to Pope
Vatican CityReuters The Vatican asked China’s communist government on Friday to stop intimidating Catholic clergy who want to remain unequivocally loyal to the Pope and refuse to sign ambiguous official registration forms. The request, contained in Vatican guidelines to clergy in mainland China, was the latest hiccup in relations between the Holy See and Beijing […]
STRANGESIGHTS: SWISS GUARDS WEAR PLASTIC; NO CRIME DURING COLD SNAP; AND, UNUSUAL WAITERS…
DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
ESSAY: FIVE REASONS THE POPE’S CLERGY SEX ABUSE MEETING IN ROME WILL FAIL
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, on why next month’s Vatican meeting on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is set to fail…
ESSAY: SHOULD CATHOLICS VIEW THE POPE AS INFALLIBLE?
In an article first published on The Conversation, REBECCA RIST, associate professor of religious history at the University of Reading, looks at the question of papal infallibility…
God and the mafia not compatible, says Pope
God and the mafia are not compatible, Pope Francis said on the weekend during a visit to the city of Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily. “You cannot believe in God and be a member of the mafia,” the Pope was quoted as saying during a Mass. “Those belonging to the mafia are not living […]
ESSAY: WHEN RIHANNA DRESSED AS THE POPE
TIMOTHY P O’MALLEY, director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and a professor of the department of theology at the University of Notre Dame in the US, responds to Monday’s glitzy Met Gala in NYC…
ESSAY: THE VATICAN AND CHINA – MAKING THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE writes about the uneasy relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese Government…
PILGRIMAGES: EGYPT’S COPTS FINALLY FULFILLING ‘DREAM’ OF TRAVELLING TO JERUSALEM
JACOB WIRTSCHAFTER and MINA NADER, of Religion News Service, report on how Egypt’s Coptic Christians are once again making pilgrimages to Jerusalem…