From time to time, Vatican officials are accused of living in a bubble, detached from the complex and sometimes harsh realities facing ordinary people. However accurate that may be in individual cases, it’s certainly not the story of Brazilian Archbishop Joao Braz de Aviz, 64, appointed in January as the new prefect of the Congregation Read more
The Holy See has pronounced automatic excommunication on Father Paul Lei Shiyin of Leshan, who was ordained a chinese bishop without papal mandate last week. A priest and Church observer outside China who asked not to be named said the move was taken for the good of the Church and followed a stern warning by Read more
In this topsy turvy world in which we live, there are so few things of which we can be sure. But there is one truth which endures: if someone tells you, “The Vatican says,” then it probably doesn’t. And what do they mean, “The Vatican,” anyway? And what do they mean, “says?” The phrase “the Read more
The Vatican returned a profit last year, despite around a 20% fall in donations from the faithful. The NZ$17.2 million profit was a turnaround from the previous year’s NZ$7 million loss, and losses in the previous two years. The Vatican said the result showed a continuing positive trend which began in 2009, but was hampered Read more
A simple Tweet from his iPad, and Pope Benedict launched the Vatican’s new online news portal. The new website www.news.va aggregates news content from the Vatican’s newspaper, radio, television and online outlets. News.va offers print, video and audio material. It features a list of the 10 most-read stories and offers links to many social network sites. Users can Read more
A move to appoint new bishops swiftly in dioceses where there are none is certain to worsen tension between the Vatican and China Patriotic church. Filling the more than 40 empty bishop’s seats is an urgent task because the vacancies are causing serious problems in the handling of church affairs, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted a spokesman as Read more
One of Syria’s most respected bishops is condemning the violence in Syria but is also defending the Syrian government’s response to the uprising there. He said the insurgents are “fanatics” who seek “destabilization and Islamization.” “The fanatics speak about freedom and democracy for Syria but this is not their goal,” said Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Read more
The Vatican, the United States, the United Nations are all in agreement in condemning Syria’s outrageous use of force against its own people and have called for reform. In receiving the Syrian ambassador’s credentials, Pope Benedict took the opportunity of saying the Holy See urges the troubled Syrian government to respect Syrian citizens’ desire for reform, Read more
Theologian Elizabeth Johnson was recently critiqued by the US bishops. As the keynote speaker at assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in 2008 she spoke of the universal need to extend and accept forgiveness. A lesson she must now put into practice herself. In the course of her address she quoted Bernard Haring: “At this time the church is Read more
A new book has revealed how the Red Cross and the Vatican helped thousands of Nazis including men like Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele to escape justice after the war. In “Nazis On The Run: How Hitler’s Henchmen Fled Europe” Gerald Steinacher, a research fellow from Harvard University, sheds light on just how thousands of Read more