A church in Auckland has been struck off the Charities Register after its employees stole millions of dollars in church funds, and poured millions more into dubious investments. It follows a two-year probe into the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) which operates 10 churches in the Auckland region. An investigation report by Charities Read more
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the international organization that supports persecuted Christians around the world, has confirmed that a decade ago it received a “credible” allegation of “aggravated sexual assault” against its founder, Father Werenfried van Straaten. The Dutch-born priest founded ACN in 1947 and was its leader until his death in 2003 Read more
For more than 1,500 years Catholics have made pilgrimage to Rome’s Santi Apostoli Church to venerate two apostles, St. Philip and St. James the Younger – who is said to have been Jesus’ brother. Bones believed to belong to the martyred saints are enshrined at the basilica, and each encasing bears the name of the Read more
The Focolare Movement has elected Margaret Karram, an Arab Catholic who was born in Israel, to a six-year term as its new president. The election of the 58-year-old consecrated lay woman was announced on February 1 during an online general assembly spanning from January 24 to February 7. Some 359 representatives cast their ballots on Read more
COVID restrictions are hampering some parish clergy appointments. Most visibly in the list of Wellington appointments, is the announcement of Fr Bill Warwick as the new parish priest of Holy Trinity parish, Wellington East. Warwick replaces the Capuchin Friars, who have served in the diocese for 62 years. He will have responsibility for the Kilbirnie, Read more
The death of a six-week-old baby hours after a baptism ceremony in Romania has prompted an Orthodox archbishop to say such rituals will be analysed to avoid further tragedy. The baby had a cardiac arrest after he was immersed three times in holy water. He had a violent death and liquid was found in his Read more
Catholics of Palmerston North may soon celebrate the appointment of a new bishop. In a post on the Metropolitan Cathedral’s page, Cardinal John Dew says he hopes and prays there will soon be good news for the people of Palmerston North who have managed their diocese so well without a diocesan bishop. As well as Read more
Vatican Radio will launch a 24-hour web radio to mark its 90th anniversary on Friday. The web radio, debuting Feb. 12, will make Vatican Radio broadcasts available over the internet in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Armenian. The broadcasts will also be available via the Radio Vaticana app. Vatican Radio already transmits via Read more
Europe’s oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, has survived Covid-19 and will celebrate her 117th birthday tomorrow, her caregivers said. Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus in her retirement home in Toulon, southern France, on 16 January. She was Read more
The terrorist who beheaded a French school teacher near Paris for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to his class has been given a hero’s funeral in his native Chechnya. Footage shows mourners at the ceremony for Abdullakh Anzorov, 18, in his native village of Shalazi in the oil-rich Russian region. The body of the Read more