Spectators have been banned from the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the area. Now the city’s Catholic archbishop has banned visitors to churches in the Archdiocese of Tokyo too. That includes athletes competing in the games and their support staff. This is according to a letter released earlier Read more
Washington, Colorado and Oregon are among US states that have legalized the process of converting human bodies into soil. This is a procedure the Catholic Church said fails to show “respect for the body of the deceased.” Meanwhile, California and New York are seeking to be next in line to allow human composting. The process Read more
As the emergency housing crisis deepens, moteliers are running for the hills. As at March 31, there were 4368 children living in motels across the country – up by 480 in three months. At the end of December there were 3888 children in motels. There were 465 children in motels for less than four weeks Read more
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who recently got married in Westminster Cathedral and quoted from the Psalms in a media interview weeks later, hailed Christianity as “a superb ethical system”. But he added that he would count himself “as a kind of very, very bad Christian.” A friend of the prime minister reportedly told several Read more
In what could be a New Zealand first, the spouse of a bishop has become the vicar of a local parish. Reverend Watiri Maina was inducted as the Vicar of Victory Church in a Saturday afternoon service. Vicar’s warden Neville Jackson said Maina was “already part of the community” in Victory, and the fact that Read more
Church leaders in Lebanon are planning to hold a summit with Muslim leaders about the future of the troubled nation. The summit is part of a “road map” given to them by Pope Francis, according to Maronite patriarch Cardinal Béchara Rai. According to Cardinal Rai, the leaders were offered a series of measures making up Read more
A federal judge in late June blocked a law in Indiana set to take effect July 1, which would have required doctors to inform women procuring medical abortion that it is possible for the effects of the first drug in the regimen to be reversed. In a lawsuit filed May 18 in the US District Read more
Pope Francis has chosen Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, a Jesuit, to serve as relator general of the Synod of Bishops on synodality. The appointment of Cardinal Hollerich, who also serves as president of the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, was announced by the Vatican July 8. The relator is responsible for Read more
New Zealand’s first Māori-owned electricity retailer Nau Mai Rā has launched a petition, urging power generators and Government to provide better electricity outcomes for vulnerable communities. New Zealand’s residential power prices have surged almost 50 percent since 2000, faster than most OECD countries. Consumer NZ stats say 17 percent of New Zealanders had trouble paying Read more
The organization of the universal Catholic Church has a precise hierarchy, but there is no such thing as a “vice pope,” who steps in when the reigning pontiff is traveling abroad, ill or under anesthesia. Although hospitalized since July 4, when he underwent a three-hour surgery on his colon, Pope Francis is still the supreme Read more