News/International

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life

Fr. Pavone says Vatican didn't tell him directly he was laicized

By

In a live morning broadcast on Twitter Dec. 18, Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said he was not told directly by the Vatican that he has been laicized.

A fragment from the Parthenon depicting the head of a boy, housed in the Vatican Museums, is among three ancient fragments that Pope Francis will give to Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece. According to the Vatican Museums' website, the fragments came into their possession in the 19th century.

Pope Francis returns Parthenon marbles in Vatican collection to Greece

By

Expressing his desire to bear witness to "the truth," Pope Francis is returning three marble fragments that were originally from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, according to the Vatican.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, speaks during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, in this June 16, 2022, file photo. She told reporters Dec. 15 that the Vatican had apologized for comments Pope Francis made about Russian minorities being responsible for the worst acts of cruelty in the country's war on Ukraine, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

Russia says Vatican apologized for Pope Francis' remarks

By

The Vatican has had diplomatic contact with Russia regarding comments Pope Francis made about Russian minorities being responsible for the worst acts of cruelty in the country's war on Ukraine.

Members of World Wide Fund for Nature protest in Montreal Dec. 7 during COP15, the two-week UN Biodiversity Conference.

Activists urge action to protect biodiversity

By

With scientists warning that the loss of nature is accelerating at dangerous speeds, Catholic activists are urging nations at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal to act to protect life on Earth at all levels.

President Joe Biden is seen in Phoenix Dec. 6, 2022.

Court strikes down Biden’s transgender mandate

By

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis Dec. 9 permanently blocked a transgender mandate the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had implemented as a revision to the Affordable Care Act.

A man holds a candle during a prayer service for Jesuit Father Stan Swamy in Mumbai, India, July 6, 2021, a day after he died at a hospital while in custody. Catholic activists and priests want the Indian government to "take full responsibility" for the priest's death after findings by U.S.-based digital forensic experts that false evidence was planted on the priest's computer by hacking it.

Hackers planted false files implicating Indian Jesuit who died in prison

By

Catholic activists and priests want the Indian government to "take full responsibility" for the custodial death of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy after findings by U.S.-based digital forensic experts that false evidence was planted on the priest's computer.

The Vatican is often criticized for not condemning the Russian invasion more forthrightly, but former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Ken Hackett says that’s long been the way of the Vatican. The Vatican “does not want to close the door,” he said.

Diplomacy, Vatican-style: relationships key

By

Ken Hackett, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said he was advised early on that diplomacy with the Vatican was about relationships, not transactions.

A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany March 18, 2021. Lawyer Stephan Rixen, the state-appointed chairman of the commission to investigate abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, has quit.

Chairman of Cologne’s abuse commission resigns

By

The state-appointed chairman of the commission to investigate abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne has quit, saying he doubted the independence of the commission and wondered whether its main aim was to protect Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

Pope Francis greets Syro-Malabar Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, India, at the end of the pope's general audience at the Vatican June 15, 2022. In late July, the pope named the archbishop apostolic administrator of the Kochi-based Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church. The archbishop has been given police protection in India after a dispute over the liturgy led to a protest.

Indian court orders police protection for Vatican appointee

By

A top court in the southern Indian state of Kerala has ordered police protection for the apostolic administrator of an archdiocese in the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church, which is embroiled in a bitter liturgical dispute.

Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, center, and Anglican Bishop Robert Innes of the Church of England's Diocese in Europe, chat during a meeting in in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 1, 2022.

Archbishop of Canterbury visits Ukraine to show support as winter begins

By

Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby spent three days in Ukraine to show solidarity with the people there. It was the first visit of an archbishop of Canterbury to an independent Ukraine.

The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington Oct. 2, 2022.

U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to support web designer in free speech case

By

In a case examining the scope of free speech protected by the First Amendment, the Supreme Court Dec. 5 ultimately seemed to favor a broad view of free speech.

Page 9 of 634