Pope Francis spent much of his address to the United Nations in New York connecting environmental destruction with social and economic exclusion. “A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged,” he said on Friday. Francis Read more
There has been a mixed online response to Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna’s remarks about the legalisation of same sex marriage in the Cook Islands. In a press conference last week he said that it was not currently an issue and there is no need to deal with it until it becomes one. His comments Read more
The chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences says the United Nations is not the devil, and the academy is free to collaborate with it. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo said the Church will continue to collaborate with the United Nations on any joint project that “does not go against the doctrine of the Church”. The Read more
Some 14.4 million people around the world were forced from their homes in 2014, the highest number of newly displaced people in 20 years. The main countries refugees were fleeing from and to shifted greatly last year, according to a new report by the United Nations. The crisis in Syria hugely affected the refugee population’s flow Read more
A Vatican official has disagreed with pro-life groups over the involvement in a climate change conference of people who have supported abortion. Pro-life sources had expressed concern that the Vatican partnered with United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and US economist Jeffrey Sachs at an April 28 summit in Rome. The summit was hosted by the Read more
The Vatican has concluded its first treaty that formally recognises the State of Palestine. The treaty is an agreement on Catholic Church activities in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The agreement will be signed by representatives from both entities in the near future. Vatican officials stressed that although the agreement was significant, it did Read more
Cardinal Peter Turkson says the Church cannot remain indifferent to the the plight of sinking pacific islands. He says he is sometimes approached by people telling him that he entered the seminary to save souls, not to “meddle” with political or scientific issues. “But I have bishops in the Pacific Islands telling me the land Read more
The Pope’s encyclical on the environment is now finalised and is being translated into different languages, with an anticipated release in June. Vatican officials made this announcement on April 28 at a one-day Rome summit on climate change. According to a report on the Crux website, the President of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences, Bishop Read more
The Vatican’s top diplomat at the United Nations has called for a co-ordinated international force to stop ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said there is a type of genocide happening to Christians and other minorities in these countries, which must be stopped. Archbishop Tomasi told Crux’s John Allen that any anti-ISIS Read more
The Pope on his return flight from the Philippines to Italy suggested that when western help to third world countries is only available if they accept western ideas into a culture as “ideological colonization”. Gender ideologies from the wealthy Western world are being imposed on developing nations by tying them to foreign aid and education, Read more