As the U.S. Catholic bishops conduct their semiannual meeting virtually this week, the big question is whether they will approve a proposal to create a teaching document on the Eucharist that would deny the sacrament to politicians who support pro-choice policies. No one doubts that the proposal is directed at regular Mass-goer Joe Biden, the Read more
Copies of the Homeless Jesus statue have spread around the world in the last eight years. The statue is a life-sized representation of a person lying asleep on a public bench. The image is the creation of Canadian artist and sculptor Tim Schmalz, who specialises in art addressing religious themes. He presents the sleeping figure Read more
Religion forms a moral foundation for billions of people throughout the world. In a 2019 survey, 44% of Americans – along with 45% of people across 34 nations – said that belief in God is necessary “to be moral and have good values.” So what happens to a person’s morality and values when they lose Read more
Curbs on children’s access to online pornography need to be brought in urgently to stop the spread of an activity that is partly to blame for normalising sexual harassment in schools, according to the new children’s commissioner for England. Dame Rachel de Souza is urging governments and tech companies to introduce age verification checks. She Read more
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), as reported by The Guardian, has warned that as COVID vaccines continue to roll out, the world faces a “catastrophic moral failure” as richer countries administer the vaccine on a vast scale, while poor countries are left behind.” The head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, underscored the Read more
Reactions to Pope Francis’s decree Spiritus Domini have not been explosive. Indeed, the reverse is the case: bishops and presbyters around the world have said that it is merely a matter of words. After all, women have been reading for years at the liturgy – so calling them ‘lectors’ is just a needless formality! Women have Read more
Fast food happened fast. The golden arches were first sighted in Porirua in 1976. Just 20 years later, there were 100 McDonald’s restaurants in the country. Nowadays, fast food restaurants are an omnipresent feature of the landscape of urban New Zealand. Kiwis flocked to the cities in the latter half of the 20th century, and Read more
Five months after Pope Francis issued new norms governing Vatican finances, the Secretariat of State has not yet given to the Secretariat of the Economy oversight and control over funds — a handover ordered by the pope — several Vatican officials have charged. Neither the Secretariat of State nor the Vatican press office have responded Read more
While I am always happy to celebrate any accolades my country and city might garner on the international stage, seeing Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau awarded the top ranking in a recent “most liveable cities” survey left me somewhat flummoxed. In particular, I would argue that many Māori whānau in Auckland do not enjoy the benefits of this Read more
Earlier this month, more than a hundred Catholic parishes in Germany carried out priestly blessings of same-sex couples in defiance of the Vatican and the German bishops. The ceremonies were, in part, a response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent instruction forbidding such blessings and reiterating the Church’s traditional teaching regarding Read more