The priest who removed a cherished painting from a parish church is forcing at least one parishioner to confront an unthinkable – the choice between her cultural identity and her faith. Anne Marie Brillante, a member of the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico, says the recent removal of a cherished painting from St Joseph Read more
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s final report has changed the Catholic Church in New Zealand, says Palmerston North diocese’s Catholic bishop John Adams. Adams (pictured) chose to speak to media about the report so he could put a face to the Church’s response to the Royal Commission’s findings. The Royal Commission Read more
Thousands of Catholics participated earlier this month in the National Eucharistic Congress, a five-day event in Indianapolis that concluded July 21. Parishes and other Catholic institutions around the country sponsored adult education programmes to promote this final stage of a three-year eucharistic revival launched by the U.S. bishops. The revival itself has been subject to Read more
Catholic leaders have condemned a segment of the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony featuring drag queens parodying the Last Supper, labelling it a “gratuitous insult to the Eucharist”. During the Olympic ceremonies, 18 performers re-created the scene, a depiction of Jesus Christ’s final meal with his disciples before his crucifixion. The scene featured some half-naked Read more
In a May 21 interview with CBS, the Holy Father confirmed the exclusion of women’s diaconal ordination from the scope of discussion at the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this authoritative decision, and it can be legitimately reduced to the pope’s personal conviction formed in prayer, which Read more
Bishop Georg Bätzing, head of the German Bishops’ Conference, expressed surprise and confusion over recent comments by Pope Francis rejecting the idea of women’s ordination in the Catholic Church. “I have never heard him speak like that before and have often spoken to him personally about these issues” said the Limburg bishop. “Let me say: Read more
A priest in Florida has been charged with battery after biting the forearm of a woman in a Communion dispute at St Thomas Aquinas Church in Orlando last Sunday. Father Fidel Rodriguez, 66, admitted to police that he bit the woman after she allegedly reached into the ciborium, damaging Communion hosts. Rodriguez claimed he acted Read more
A Queensland Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse has had all charges against him dropped. Father David Lancini’s lawyer, Justin Greggery, told the court that claims Lancini abused a boy in the 1970s were either fabricated or mistaken. Lying collusion Detectives and witnesses colluded in Lancini’s arrest last December. Greggery told the court witnesses Read more
Pope Francis has apologised for what has been taken as a vulgar, homophobic slur. He “never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologises to those who felt offended” says Holy See press office chief Matteo Bruni. The remarks are at odds with the pope’s track record to date. He has Read more
On 2 May, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ordained Angelic Molen as its first modern deaconess in a church near Harare in Zimbabwe. The Western media has gone a bit mad, calling it “breaking with tradition” and a radical new step forward. Ordaining women deacons The usual suspects have trotted out the Read more