Browse › 2018 › September

September 2018

September 24

Stay close to the suffering, welcome the condemned, Pope says to Latvians

September 24, 2018

AGLONA, Latvia – What would Mary do? was the question Pope Francis, in effect, asked Latvian Catholics gathered at their nation's popular Marian shrine.

East African bishops to prioritize fundamentalism at synod on youth

September 24, 2018

NAIROBI, Kenya – Due to its impact on young Catholics in Africa, fundamentalism will be a topic that bishops from East Africa prioritize in their talks with other delegates during the synod's intervention sessions.

Children are embracing hands-on Catechism

September 24, 2018

VANCOUVER – An innovative program has revamped religious education at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Vancouver.

Readers Speak Out: September 23, 2018

September 24, 2018

Make reparations There is a time for mercy and a time for turning over the tables of money exchangers. The time for mercy is over! Now is the time to turn over those proverbial tables. Our shepherds must stop asking for forgiveness and engage in profound reparation (for sexual abuse victims) in the hope of meriting forgiveness. Only then can the abandoned and abused sheep begin to trust the shepherds. And, no, the money must not come from the donations of the faithful but rather from the personal pockets of each predator and enabler, including the pockets of those who kept the secrets. Dona Tiberio-Smith, Maple, Ont.

Bob Brehl: Will Vatican meeting lead to real change?

September 24, 2018

Frustrated by the Church’s inability to defuse long-running clergy sex scandals, Pope Francis has summoned the worldwide presidents of Catholic bishops conferences to the Vatican in February to find better ways to protect children and eradicate predatory priests.

Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo: Audiobooks are a feast for my ears

September 24, 2018

I officially jumped on the audiobook bandwagon about a year ago.

Philadelphia's Archbishop Chaput shares theological critique of youth synod working document

September 24, 2018

PHILADELPHIA – Archbishop Charles Chaput offered Friday on First Things a critique by a theologian of the working document for the upcoming Synod on Youth, which highlights five principal theological difficulties in the document.

Abuse survivor priest in Chicago removed 'temporarily' following rainbow flag burning

September 24, 2018

CHICAGO – The Archdiocese of Chicago has confirmed the temporary removal of the parish priest at the center of a controversy over the burning of a rainbow banner. According to the archdiocese, Fr. Paul Kalchik has “left willingly” from his Chicago parish “to receive pastoral care.”

September 25

Scandals drive youth away from the Church, but there is time for conversion, Pope says

September 25, 2018

TALLINN, Estonia – In what is probably the least religious country in Europe, Pope Francis said he is surprised by how many people hold firm to their faith despite all the sexual abuse and financial scandals in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis prays for victims of ferry disaster in Tanzania

September 25, 2018

VATICAN – Pope Francis mourned the loss of more than 200 lives in a ferry accident on Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian island of Ukara.

Clergy caught in ‘siege mentality,’ says head of Vatican's expert on sex abuse

September 25, 2018

ROME – The Catholic Church is on trial and what happens next will define its place in the world to come, said one of the Vatican’s foremost experts on clergy sex abuse.

Pope Francis ‘very moved’ by support from Canadian bishops, says nuncio

September 25, 2018

CORNWALL, Ont. – Pope Francis is grateful for the support of Canada’s bishops during this time of difficulty in the Church, said the Vatican’s ambassador to Canada.

Clergy must stand with those wounded by scandal, Canadian bishops told at plenary meeting

September 25, 2018

CORNWALL, Ont. – The sexual abuse crisis is like a fire that should be left to burn in order to purify the Church, said the president of Canada’s bishops’ conference.

On papal flight, Pope discusses sex abuse, cover-up corruption, China-Vatican deal

September 25, 2018

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME – The Catholic Church has grown in its understanding of the horror of clerical sexual abuse and of the "corruption" of covering it up, Pope Francis said.

September 26

Cardinal Collins exhorts priests to 'become fire', experience constant purification

September 26, 2018

PHEONIX, Ariz. – Toronto's Cardinal Thomas Collins has a provocative message for priests, bishops, and seminarians struggling to attain holiness: “You must become fire.”

Time to heal, restore full communion, evangelize, Pope tells Catholics in China

September 26, 2018

VATICAN – The recent Vatican-China agreement on the nomination of bishops seeks the true good of the church, the promotion of preaching the Gospel in China and the re-establishment of the church's full and visible unity, Pope Francis said in a message to Catholics in China and worldwide.

Canadians must help Syrian refugees who want to return home, says Maronite Patriarch

September 26, 2018

CORNWALL, Ont. – Western nations must support Syrian refugees in Lebanon who want to return home, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï told Canada’s Catholic bishops.

German bishops formally apologize, release sex abuse records

September 26, 2018

The head of the German bishops conference formally apologized for sexual abuse in the church, saying it "has been denied, turned away from and covered up for far too long."

The Gospel preserves lives from mediocrity, selfishness, Pope says

September 26, 2018

VATICAN – During times of freedom or persecution, the Gospel is needed to bring meaning, fullness and hope to life, Pope Francis said.

Saint Paul University professor axed after sex abuse complaint

September 26, 2018

One of the world’s leading experts in Church law as it applies to the liturgy has been removed as a full professor at Ottawa’s Saint Paul University after a complaint from a man who says he was abused as a teen.