Global warming and the Catholic church do not seem to have any connection, on the face of it. However, priests are going to be learning about environmental concerns during their formation period at seminaries. Later, they’ll be expected to preach about the environment at Mass. How did this topic come to be included in the Read more
A quake-damaged church spire is part of this year’s Christmas Crib at the Vatican. The spire comes from one of the many churches damaged in this year’s earthquakes. Its presence reminds us that the Holy Family were refugees at this time of the year, Pope Francis says. Read more
A Vatican website showing the efforts being made to protect people from clerical sexual abuse was launched this week. Children, teens and vulnerable adults are those the Vatican particularly aims to protect. Set up following recommendations from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the website offers a suite of resources. Among these are Read more
Rembrandt at the Vatican: Images from Heaven and Earth. This is the title of the first Vatican exhibition of works by 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijne. Fifty-three of Rembrandt’s etchings from the Zorn Museum in Sweden are on show. The display represents a desire for Christian unity, Arnold Nesselrath, who is the Read more
A Bishop who has been excommunicated gave “illegitimate help” and concelebrated the Eucharist at a new bishop’s ordination last week. Lei Shiyin, the Chinese- government-backed bishop of Leshan in Sichuan province, was ordained in China in June 2011 without Rome’s blessing. He was excommunicated for this. The Vatican is concerned Lei’s role in last week’s Read more
Artificial intelligence was the subject of a conference held at the Vatican last week. One of the attendees described artificial intelligence as being “a very powerful technology”. “So I think as a society we need to think very carefully about the ethical use of technologies, and as one of the developers of this kind of Read more
ROME – Just as with department store windows in the United States, reminders in Rome that Christmas is coming seem to start popping up earlier and earlier ever year. Of course Italians don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but it’s worth pointing out that Turkey Day just happened and it feels like Christmas season is here. This week, Read more
The Vatican has banned a BBC historian from filming love letter. The letter is kept in the Vatican archives. In the letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, Henry writes passionately about Anne’s breasts. Read more
Environmentally-friendly. These words are more often than not aspirational. Not so in Vatican City, however. The 44.5 hectare state hopes it “can in some way become a good example of a ‘green’ and non-polluting state.” Recycling initiatives were established in 2008. Today there are over 200 household rubbish and recycling containers dotted around the state for Read more
The Vatican’s recently announced a set of guidelines for cremation, ash spreading, and burial. Spokeswoman Simone Olsen says the Catholic Church in New Zealand will follow guidelines from the Vatican. The practice of ash spreading is particularly pertinent in the New Zealand at this time because a number of iwi have been expressing their concern about Read more