The most prominent Protestant seminary in the United States will divest itself of all investments in fossil fuels. “We have sinned . . .”, wrote Union Theological Seminary president Serene Jones in an article in Time magazine. Fossil fuel investments constituted 11 per cent of Union’s US$108 million endowment. Removing such investments is an act Read more
The United Nations Committee against Torture has issued a damning report on the Vatican’s response to the clergy child sex abuse crisis. Among the committee’s accusations were failures to report allegations of abuse to authorities, and refusing to disclose information for criminal proceedings. The report cited Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Papal Nuncio to Australia, who, it Read more
The United Nations Secretary-General has told Pope Francis he is counting on the Catholic Church to work with the UN to promote a life of dignity for all. In Rome, Ban Ki-moon hailed the personal commitment by Pope Francis to eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development. Mr Ban and heads of major UN agencies had Read more
The Vatican has faced intense questioning about child sexual abuse before a United Nations committee that oversees a convention against torture. On May 5 in Geneva, the Vatican’s handling of the global clerical sex abuse scandal was compared with torture. If it does fit the definition of torture, any failure to investigate clergy and their superiors Read more
The Vatican has warned the United Nations about falling fertility rates around the world, saying that they “should be a great cause for alarm”. Citing a report from the UN’s secretary general, the Vatican mission to the UN stated that “no fewer than 80 countries now register a fertility rate below replacement level”. That trend Read more
Catholic, Protestant and Muslim leaders from the Central African Republic have warned of a genocidal war in their country. They have pleaded for the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers. Continue reading
Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley has added his surprise to the content of the UN’s report into the Vatican’s response to sexual abuse. Cardinal O’Malley, in a blog post, said he would have thought that the competency of UN commission was to examine the policies and practices of their member nations, and had they focused on that Read more
The United Nations is demanding all clergy, known or suspected to be child abusers, be immediately removed from their posts. This is one of many wide-sweeping recommendations on February 5, from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Declaring the Holy See as in breach of the Convention of the Rights of the Read more
A Jesuit priest trapped in the Syrian city of Homs is warning mental health problems might lead to a breakdown of social order. With the failure of United Nations-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Fr Frans Van der Lugt, told ‘The Telegraph’ that food has run out and starvation is beginning to cause people to lose their Read more
Malaysia should reverse a ban on a Christian newspaper using the word “Allah” to refer to God, Reuters quoted a UN official as saying on Monday about a decision that fanned religious tension in the mainly Muslim country. Malaysia’s second highest court ruled in October that the Catholic newspaper, the Herald, could not use the Read more