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July 30, 2018
VATICAN – Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Philip Wilson, who had been found guilty by an Australian court of failing to inform police about child sexual abuse allegations.
WASHINGTON – A Novena for the Legal Protection of Human Life is being led by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholics are being encouraged to take part ahead of the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
During his life, St. Francis of Assisi was known as the "poverello,” or the poor man who renounced the world to live for Jesus alone.
VATICAN – Pope Francis asked people to generously serve those most in need and to never waste food.
BEIRUT – Syriac Catholic bishops from around the world, meeting in Lebanon for their annual synod, lamented the plight of their "tormented and persecuted" faithful.
AMSTERDAM – Despite rumors of its demise, the AIDS pandemic is far from over, and churches must continue to play a critical role in combating the disease, Catholic leaders were told at an international gathering of more than 15,000 AIDS researchers and activists.
Canon law prescribes that Mass be celebrated in a “sacred place” such as a church or a chapel consecrated by a bishop. That is why, for example, there are strict rules forbidding the celebration of wedding Masses at locations such as a beach or garden patio.
SYDNEY – The widespread use of contraception has led to increased violence and aggression against women, the theologian of the papal household said during a mid-July visit to Sydney.
NEW DELHI – India's Catholic Church has led a chorus of protest over a demand to ban the sacrament of reconciliation from the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women.
July 31, 2018
VATICAN – Christ's commandment to love God and neighbor is a path trodden by those who have the desire to become saints, Pope Francis told thousands of altar servers from around the world.
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The sexual abuse allegations surrounding now-former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick have prompted some church figures to call for a more thorough reckoning of the U.S. church's clerical sexual abuse policies.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Catholic groups have collected and are distributing aid for thousands of people affected by a deadly earthquake that struck Lombok, Indonesia's popular tourist island.
WASHINGTON – Priests continue to play diverse and integral roles in marriage preparation across Europe and Asia.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – The Honduran bishops' conference on Monday denied there exists a homosexual culture at the national seminary, in response to a recent report from the National Catholic Register about Honduran seminarians lamenting that culture.
Canada’s two largest churches, which represent two-thirds of Canadian Christians, have jointly declared that climate change and ecological degradation are central, enduring concerns for Christians.
A petition demanding conscience rights for doctors who oppose assisted suicide is the first move in a multi-pronged strategy to persuade Ontario’s new government to enshrine such rights in law.
PROPHETIC LETTER Re: Canada took wrong side in Humane Vitae debate (July 8-15): Thank you Fr. Raymond de Souza for revisiting Humanae Vitae and the Canadian bishops’ undermining of the wisdom and beauty of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on human life. It is worth reading afresh this prophetic love letter from Pope Paul VI, readily available on the vatican.va website. Artificial contraception/birth control has resulted in worldwide misery. Dr. Janet Smith has done exceptional work in recording this. As artificial birth control grew in use, so did the rate of divorces and the rate of STIs. Fr. Silvestre Birngruber in his 1954 book, Morals for Lay People, wrote: If artificial contraception becomes widely practised, abortion on demand will follow as a natural consequence. We know the truth of this prediction. Pope Paul VI also foresaw the tragedy if public authorities/governments became involved in artificial birth control. One doesn’t need advanced degrees in medicine to realize that one cannot keep pumping chemicals into a woman’s body and not expect undesirable consequences. David Hogg, Toronto, Ont.