Cardinal George Pell says allowing Communion for Catholics who are divorced and remarried outside the Church is impossible. The cardinal said doing so would make pastoral practice incompatible with doctrine. The former Archbishop of Sydney wrote this in a foreword to a book titled “The Gospel of the Family” by Professor Stephan Kampowski and Fr Read more
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been granted its sought two-year extension. It will run for five years. That is appropriate. I predicted on the night Julia Gillard announced the commission that it would take five years to do its work. I am still worried about this extended federal royal Read more
Cardinal George Pell has sparked outrage with comments that the Church should not be held responsible for crimes committed by priests. Last week, Cardinal Pell used a “trucking company” analogy before Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Speaking by video link from Rome, the Cardinal likened the Church to a trucking Read more
It was possibly a watershed moment in Holy See media relations. The scene was the Sala Stampa of the Holy See some 10 days ago. Australian Cardinal George Pell was presenting the New Economic Framework for the Holy See, a document which outlines proposed major reforms not only to IOR (the Vatican bank) and to Read more
A new president has been announced for the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, as it was revealed that the institution’s 2013 net profit had plunged. Some 3000 accounts have been also purged from the bank in the last year, with almost 400 not meeting stricter client criteria, requiring a close link with the Church. French financier Jean-Baptiste Read more
The Vatican is looking to overhaul its communications structures, with a high-powered committee set up to tackle the issue. Former chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Chris Patten, will chair the committee. It will consider a report from a global consulting firm that reviewed Vatican communications, with a view to streamlining and modernising them. The Read more
The confidentiality of the confessional will no longer stop Australian Anglican priests reporting serious crimes they hear in confession to police. Representatives of the Anglican Church of Australia approved this on July 2 at the church’s General Synod in Adelaide. The ruling covers serious offences that would attract a jail term of five years or more, Read more
The Catholic Church in Melbourne is to revisit the cap it puts on monetary compensation to abuse victims with a view to removing or raising the limit. This came after Cardinal George Pell told parents of two victims that he would make moves to remove the cap and revisit 300 existing claims against the Church. Read more
You could be forgiven for not knowing where the buck stops in the Catholic Church these days. In any society, organization or Church community, it is important to know who is ultimately responsible in decision making; otherwise, chaos or worse would prevail. In an unprecedented (for a cardinal) cross examination in court last week, Cardinal Read more
Cardinal George Pell has publicly apologised in person to a victim of child sex abuse by a priest at Royal Commission hearings in Sydney. This followed an apology to John Ellis in statement by the cardinal that was previously sent to the commission. Continue reading