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July 2017

July 4

Cardinal Muller is out after one term at doctrine office

July 4, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Promoting the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the office of prefect, Pope Francis chose not to ask German Cardinal Gerhard Muller to serve a second five-year term in the post.

Cardinal Muller: There's no problem between me, Pope Francis

July 4, 2017

VATICAN – In a brief interview given just hours after hearing that he would no longer be heading the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Gerhard Muller said the decision was normal, and was not the result of conflict between him and Pope Francis.

Bishops across country consecrate dioceses to Mary on Canada Day weekend

July 4, 2017

OTTAWA – From coast to coast, many Canadian bishops consecrated their dioceses to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Canada Day weekend.

July 5

Faith: Word of God is the seed of life

July 5, 2017

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 16 (Year A) Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23 The Word of God is a dynamic and creative expression of the divine will, at work at every moment and in every place. It is not confined to the borders of the Church, nor can it be controlled by human beings. Its work is healing, guiding, inspiring and drawing all humanity back to its divine source.

Vatican-owned paediatric hospital is fixing past problems, says overseer

July 5, 2017

VATICAN CITY – While there had been problems and complaints in the past, the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital was working resolve them, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, who oversees the hospital.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner, one of four 'dubia’ cardinals, dies at age 83

July 5, 2017

BAD FUSSING, Germany – Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop emeritus of Cologne, Germany and one of four cardinals who sent the "dubia" to Pope Francis last year, passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 83.

Charlie Gard will not be transferred to Vatican Hospital

July 5, 2017

VATICAN CITY – The London hospital where Charlie Gard is living his last days has refused a transfer request from the Pediatric hospital Bambino Gesu in Rome for legal reasons.

July 6

Art as you've never seen it: New film highlights Pope Francis' vision

July 6, 2017

VATICAN CITY – What do the Sistine Chapel, a used car with 186,000 miles on the odometer and a statue of Our Lady of Lujan made out of metal from an abandoned factory have in common?

Pope dedicates July to praying for those distant from the faith

July 6, 2017

VATICAN CITY – In his prayer video for the month of July, Pope Francis has asked Christians to join him in praying for those who have strayed from the faith, providing hope to them through the witness of our joy and actions.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, former Vatican spokesman, dies of cancer

July 6, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who spent 22 years as director of the Vatican press office, died at home in Rome July 5 at age 80 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Canadian bishops blast minister’s speech making abortion ‘core’ of foreign policy

July 6, 2017

OTTAWA – Canada’s bishops conference has denounced a speech by Canada’s foreign minister as “erroneous, confusing and misguided” for suggesting that sexual reproductive rights have become a cornerstone of the nation’s foreign policy.

Church officials upset that Myanmar’s won’t allow U.N. rights investigators

July 6, 2017

YANGON, Myanmar – Church officials have expressed disappointment over the refusal of Myanmar's government to grant visas to three members of a U.N. fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights abuses by security forces against the Rohingya minority.

Security footage shows man threatening to kill nun in a Brooklyn church

July 6, 2017

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Police are investigating a possible hate crime after a man threatened to kill a nun who was praying inside a Catholic Church in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon.

U.S., European bishops call for a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons

July 6, 2017

WASHINGTON – Agencies of the U.S. and European Catholic bishops have called for all nations to develop a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from their military arsenals.

Reformed churches endorse Catholic-Lutheran accord on key Reformation dispute

July 6, 2017

PARIS – Amid ceremonies this year marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, one of Protestantism’s leading branches has officially said it now agrees with the Vatican on the main issue at the root of its split from the Roman Catholic Church half a millennium ago.

Safe Third Country Agreement faces legal challenge

July 6, 2017

Canada’s major churches, the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada are taking the federal government to court, hoping to strike down a 13-year-old agreement between the United States and Canada on treatment of refugees.

July 7

As partial travel ban kicks in, agencies worry about refugees in limbo

July 7, 2017

WASHINGTON – Agencies and organizations that help refugees start new lives in the U.S. worry about the fate that awaits migrants in transit as well as those who will not be allowed into the country as the partial ban that the U.S. Supreme Court set in motion with its late June ruling goes into effect in early July.

Avoiding deportation: Shifting U.S. policies leave many on tenterhooks

July 7, 2017

WASHINGTON – Immigrants facing deportation have won the occasional judicial victory, but getting a judge to hear their case poses the bigger problem in immigrants' desperate attempt to stay in the United States.

July 8

Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming

July 8, 2017

NEW YORK – There's much to like about the vibrant comic-book adaptation Spider-Man: Homecoming (Columbia). Besides an unslacking pace and a clever central plot twist, there's the fact that the mayhem on display is kept virtually bloodless.

'The Art of Dying' gets a facelift 600 years later

July 8, 2017

LONDON, England – In the 14th century, approximately one third of the population of Europe - or anywhere from 75 million to 200 million people - was wiped out due to what became known as the Black Death.