Pope Francis, who has a knack for dropping bombshells in July when his predecessors would normally leave town for a summer holiday. He has again started off the month with a bang by naming Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández of La Plata (Argentina) as the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Read more
Pope Francis has appointed a like-minded Argentinian to lead the doctrine office at the Holy See. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is one of the Vatican’s most influential departments. Known as an influential papal theological adviser, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez will take up his appointment in September this year. That’s just a Read more
The Catholic Church in the US is undergoing a “silent schism”. Some American Catholics are just “sitting out the papacy of Francis”, the Tablet newspaper reports. Some bishops are using social media to inflame “a uniquely toxic situation”, author and theologian Dr Dawn Eden Goldstein (pictured) says. Speaking to the Tablet about “The Church and Read more
Pope Francis is determined to go to World Youth Day (WYD) in August. He’ll be there despite illness, post-anaesthesia breathlessness and other medical problems. The 86-year old underwent three hours of abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia on 7 June. Yet despite his age, his health is definitely improving. His surgeon says Francis is “better than Read more
Pope Francis has sent a message of support to a conference that will discuss LGBTQ ministry in the Catholic Church this weekend, after right-wing online influencers organized a petition to try and stop the event. The pope is publicly backing the Outreach conference, a three-day meeting set to be held June 16-18 at New York’s Read more
Australia’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers is not the only one looking to Mariana Mazzucato for ideas about reforming our global economic system, so is Pope Francis. The pope commends Mazzucato’s thinking for offering a compelling analysis of problems in the global economy and what can be done to build a more sustainable and fairer world. This Read more
There is probably no pope in all of history — certainly not in the last 400 some years — who served so briefly as Bishop of Rome and yet had such an immense impact on the Catholic Church as John XXIII. [That’s leaving aside Sixtus V. He’s the hard-nosed pope who, in just five years Read more
An Australian priest backing the Indigenous Voice referendum to parliament fears the result will leave Australians divided. That will be a tragedy, he says. Father Frank Brennan (pictured), a Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer, blames leadership on both political sides for not seeking common ground. He hopes a “reconciling spirit” will blow through parliament’s Read more
Pope Francis on Friday said he was told the synod process was an “impolite word.” The comments, directed at the pope, came as he entered the Vatican audience hall for a meeting. Francis said as he entered the Vatican audience hall for the meeting, someone – using an Argentinean phrase that is not very polite, Read more
Russia has reacted positively to the Pope’s Ukraine peace initiative. There are no immediate plans for a Vatican mission to Moscow, however. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement about the peace initiative was Moscow’s first public acknowledgement of the pope’s overtures. It followed the Vatican’s weekend announcement that Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (pictured), has been suggested Read more