Paris, France, Nov 15, 2019 CNA.- Tensions are reportedly running high between French authorities overseeing the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, as they create plans to rebuild the church damaged by fire earlier this year.
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LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- Chile's bishops called for national dialogue and an end to the violence that has wracked the country for the past month. Their pleas to end the violent protests came in two messages after demonstrators sacked the Assumption of Mary Parish in Santiago, the Chilean capital, Nov. 8, burning pews and statues. Other parishes also were attacked, including one in the southern city of Valparaiso.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following through on a proposal made at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, Pope Francis said there are plans to include a definition of ecological sins in the church's official teaching.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis tapped a Spanish Jesuit priest with a background in economics to head the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. The Vatican announced Nov.14 that the pope named Jesuit Father Juan Antonio Guerrero, general counselor for the Society of Jesus, to lead the office, which had been headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While digital technologies have led to advancements in communication and education, they also have led to the exploitation of children on the internet, Pope Francis said. The "spread of images of abuse or the exploitation of minors is increasing exponentially, involving ever more serious and violent forms of abuse and ever younger children," the pope told participants at a two-day conference sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The theme of Pope Francis' visit to Thailand is focused on mission, but in the Asian country where Catholics are a tiny minority, that mission is less about proclamation and more about witness, service and dialogue.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis warned that violence against Jewish people, which reached a state of horror during World War II, is on the rise again. During his weekly general audience Nov. 13, the pope reflected on the lives of Priscilla and Aquila, a first-century married couple who accompanied St. Paul in his ministry and were among the Jews expelled from Rome by Claudius Caesar.
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SYDNEY (CNS) -- The High Court of Australia has decided to give Cardinal George Pell, 78, a final chance to argue against his conviction on five counts of child sexual abuse. High Court Justices Michelle Gordon and James Edelman announced Nov. 13 that they referred the cardinal's appeal application to the full, seven-member court. The unusual move means the full court will decide whether to hear the appeal and, if it does, will proceed to hear arguments about why the conviction should be overturned or upheld.
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MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Bolivia's bishops called for calm after the country's president resigned suddenly in the face of swelling street protests over accusations of electoral fraud. They also insisted the departure of President Evo Morales "is not a coup," even though the military had urged him to step aside.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Giving the Ratzinger prize to a philosopher from Canada and a Scripture scholar from Burkina Faso, Pope Francis said they demonstrate that "in the variety of cultures, diverse across time and space, one can and should always seek the way to God and the encounter with Christ."
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BALTIMORE (CNS) -- In a brief presentation Nov. 11 to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley told the bishops gathered in Baltimore the Vatican may publish what it knows about the ascent to power of now-disgraced former U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick by Christmas, or perhaps the New Year.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While other U.S. bishops are preparing for their general meeting in Baltimore Nov. 11-13, the bishops of New York state are packing their bags for Rome. The bishops of Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, New York, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse are scheduled to make their visits "ad limina apostolorum" -- to the threshold of the apostles -- Nov. 11-16.
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MANCHESTER (CNS) -- Catholic priests would die rather than break the seal of confession to report child abusers to the police, said an English cardinal. Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse that the English and Welsh bishops would reject any attempts to compel priests to report Catholics who admit to committing sexual abuse during confession.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Loving acts of service and charity not only help build up the Kingdom of God, they attract and influence others, Pope Francis said. Young people in particular need to witness Christians helping others "since in many cases it is absent from their daily experience," he said.
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ROME (CNS) -- The bishops of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont were in Rome Nov. 4-8 for their visits "ad limina apostolorum" -- to the threshold of the apostles.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' top aide made no secret of what will be on the pope's mind when he visits Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Nov. 24: "the total elimination of nuclear weapons." In a late September visit to the United Nations, the aide, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke repeatedly and passionately about the need to stop manufacturing, testing and stockpiling nuclear weapons.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishops from New England shared with Pope Francis some of the joys, challenges and sufferings of the church in the Northeast and, really, throughout the United States, three of the bishops said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In front of the tomb of St. Peter, where they solemnly chanted the Creed in Latin, the bishops of New England contemplated the call and mission of the apostle, and how the Lord calls them as well.
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BRUSSELS (CNS) -- Catholic bishops from the European Union marked 30 years since the breaching of the Berlin Wall with tributes to those who worked for peaceful change, as well as warnings against resurgent "ideologies behind the building of walls."
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ROME (CNS) -- When U.S. bishops from New England gathered in the Basilic of St. Paul Outside the Walls to celebrate Mass and pray at the apostle's tomb, it was called "a blessing" that the day's reading would be St. Paul's Letter to the Romans.
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BANGKOK (CNS) -- When Pope Francis celebrates Mass in a Bangkok sports stadium Nov. 21, tens of thousands of Catholics from across Thailand will be there to celebrate with him. Several devout Catholics may not be among them, however much they might love to join. Ucanews.org reported that by venturing outdoors to attend the Mass in person, these believers would run the risk of being detained by authorities.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus invites everyone to always go to him, which, Pope Francis said, also means no longer making life revolve around oneself. "What direction is my journey going? Do I only try to make a good impression, to protect my position, my time and my space or do I go to the Lord?" he asked during a memorial Mass for the 13 cardinals and 147 bishops who died over the preceding year.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Universities must find ways to educate the "hearts and consciences" of students in an age of increasing technological advancement and shifting societal demands, Pope Francis said.
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ROME (CNS) -- In what he said was his first visit to the catacombs, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the feast of All Souls with special words of remembrance for Catholics who still today must worship in secret.
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ROME (CNS) -- At times of great crisis in the Catholic Church, God intervened to renew it through the example and witness of saints, said Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Connecticut. "We feel very keenly today, all of us, the weight of human sinfulness, of infidelity, of scandal, of the sin that weighs down the church," Archbishop Blair said in his homily Nov. 4 during a Mass at the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major.
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ROME (CNS) -- Msgr. Gilfredo Marengo, a theologian who led important research on the drafting of St. Paul VI's "Humanae Vitae," has been appointed vice president of Rome's Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The saints were flesh-and-blood people whose lives included real struggles and joys, and whose holiness reminds all the baptized that they, too, are called to be saints, Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The early November feasts of All Saints and All Souls are reminders that God's church exists both on earth and in heaven and that all the faithful, living and dead, can and should pray for each other, a top Vatican official wrote.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Death is not a topic that should be avoided but a reminder that cures men and women from any illusion of being all-powerful, Pope Francis said. While today's worldly culture "enslaves (and) seeks to anesthetize us to forget what the end means," facing the topic of death is necessary so that one can truly appreciate life, the pope said Oct. 31 in a video message to young people participating in the World Youth Encounter in Mexico City.
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Vatican City (CNA) -- The meeting for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian region has approved a final document which calls for the ordination of married men as priests and for women to be considered for diaconal ordination.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has approved adding the Dec. 10 feast of Our Lady of Loreto to all calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Putting the celebration of the feast day on the universal calendar "will help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of the perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the head of the church also accepted us as her own," the decree said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The bishops of every diocese in the United States have prepared detailed reports on the life of the Catholic Church in their dioceses and have made or are making reservations to fly to Rome.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Nearly a month after private documents about a property deal involving the Vatican leaked to the press, a Vatican official rejected accusations that he "played and tampered with the money of the poor."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Holy Spirit guides the Catholic Church's mission, pointing the way to evangelize new lands and opening people's hearts to be transformed by Christ, Pope Francis said. Pray to the Holy Spirit "for a heart that is open, sensitive to God and welcoming" toward others, the pope encouraged Catholics Oct. 30 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the wake of deadly protests in Iraq, Pope Francis called on the people and their leaders to take the path of dialogue to find answers to their nation's problems. At the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square Oct. 30, the pope said his thoughts were with "beloved Iraq, where protest demonstrations going on this month have caused numerous deaths and injuries."
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HONG KONG (CNS) -- As demonstrations pitting pro-government groups against pro-democracy protesters continue, a bishop urged Catholics to pray for the realization that all are humans and not "cockroaches or dogs."
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNS) -- Elections in Argentina brought the Peronist political movement back to power as voters in the South American country -- home of Pope Francis -- expressed anger over an economic crisis that has impoverished millions.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- Expressing concern that arms control treaties are "abrogated and flouted," the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations called on global leaders to work to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
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AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly assuring U.S. Vice President Mike Pence that his forces would not persecute religious minorities in northeastern Syria, people on the ground say minorities are being targeted.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Representatives from the Catholic and Orthodox churches and the Muslim and Jewish faiths signed a joint declaration at the Vatican reaffirming each religion's clear opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Citing the negative misinterpretations that the word "secret" implies, Pope Francis has changed the name of the Vatican Secret Archives to the Vatican Apostolic Archives. In a decree, issued "motu proprio," on the pope's own initiative, and published by the Vatican Oct. 28, the pope said that semantic changes over the centuries have caused the meaning of the Latin word for "secret" to "be misunderstood" and "to be colored with ambiguous, even negative nuances."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God's creation must be treated "not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God," Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The "unprecedented" environmental and social crisis in the Amazon calls for "a deep personal, social and structural conversion" that leads to new ways of caring for "our common home," according to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon asked that women be given leadership roles in the Catholic Church, although they stopped short of calling for women deacons. In the Amazon, like in the rest of the world, the essential roles women play within the family, the community and the church should be valued and recognized officially, members of the synod said in their final document.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To proclaim the Gospel message of hope, the Catholic Church in the Amazon must open new paths of evangelization in the region, including by instituting new ministries for lay men and women, the Synod of Bishops said.
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Sydney, Australia, Oct 23, 2019 CNA.- On Wednesday, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP of Sydney announced the opening of the cause of canonization for Eileen O’Connor, a young Australian woman who founded the order Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor, also known as Brown Nurses.
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Vatican City, Oct 23, 2019 CNA.- As the Amazon synod nears a close, a communications official downplayed Wednesday the importance of the assembly’s final report, saying it is not an official Church document, but merely an “instrument” in the synodal journey.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The way to rid the Catholic Church of clericalism is by giving laywomen a greater role in making decisions, a Bolivian bishop said. Bishop Ricardo Ernesto Centellas Guzman of Potosi told Catholic News Service Oct. 23 that before considering the proposal from some members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon to ordain women deacons and married "viri probati," or men of proven virtue, the current "model of the church, which is too hierarchal, must change."
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ROME (CNS) -- Following up on "The Great Reformer," his biography of Pope Francis, Austen Ivereigh is convinced that conversion is "the deepest reform" and is a process Pope Francis is trying to facilitate.
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SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) -- Chileans must work together to address the causes of violent protests, which were followed by a police crackdown and have left at least 11 people dead in Santiago, the country's bishops said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church resolves conflicts and discerns God's will by patiently listening, discussing and deciding under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said. "It is the Spirit, in fact, who helps overcome narrow-mindedness and tensions, and works within hearts" to build unity "in the truth and the good," he said Oct. 23 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna said that as a European member of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, his first task is to listen and his second task is to examine ways his lifestyle and that of his community contribute to the suffering of the Amazonian people.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An Italian author who was once tried and acquitted by a Vatican court for publishing leaked documents is claiming in a new book that decades of mismanagement, shady deals and decreasing donations will leave the Vatican no choice but to default.
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QUEBEC CITY (CNS) -- Philippe Roy-Lysencourt entered the clinic lab carrying a retro-looking cardboard box under his arm as if it were a football. It was hard to imagine that the box contained what could be the death mask of famed 17th-century Canadian religious leader, St. Mary of the Incarnation.
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CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- Understanding the Bible can be challenging, but Catholics in Venezuela are becoming more familiar with Scripture through the work of a tech-savvy friar. Capuchin Franciscan Father Luis Antonio Salazar is breaking with traditional ways of preaching and bringing the Gospel to thousands of cellphone users each week through an Instagram video series called "Vivir el Evangelio," or "Living the Gospel."
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ROME (CNS) -- More than a half century after a group of bishops at the Second Vatican Council made a solemn pledge to live a simple lifestyle close to their people, a group of participants from the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon signed a new pact in the Catacombs of Domitilla.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Proposals made by the small groups at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon not only involved theological matters but also the Catholic Church's role in helping indigenous communities confront issues such as ecology, violence and migration.
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ROME (CNS) -- Two men entered a Catholic Church near the Vatican early Oct. 21 and stole copies of a statue of a pregnant woman that had been a centerpiece of several prayer services connected to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every Christian is called to be a missionary, sharing the good news of salvation in Christ and making disciples for him, not for oneself or one's clique of like-minded believers, Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Whether or not the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon helps open the door to ordaining women deacons, women will continue to play a fundamental role in ministry in the church in the region, religious sisters said.
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Wroc?aw, Poland, Oct 16, 2019 CNA.- Readers who find this story through a search engine probably were looking for information about Hedwig, Harry Potter’s snowy owl. St. Hedwig of Silesia was not an owl. But read on anyway: she was a princess, a wife, a mother, and a builder of bridges between the German and Polish people. And her husband’s name was “Henry the Bearded.”
Read moreOXFORD, England (CNS) -- France's Catholic bishops plan to open their plenary assembly for the first time to lay participation following the passage of a controversial bioethics law despite mass church-backed opposition.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Creating an Amazonian-rite liturgy and new ministries for laypeople, including the ordination of women deacons, are some of the recurring proposals made by small groups at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.
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