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January 31, 2019

WikiLeaks releases dossier on Knights of Malta controversy

U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a canon lawyer and former grand master of the Knights of Malta, is pictured in a Feb 20, 2015, photo. Internal documents relating to the public crisis that led to his resignation of the grand master of the Knights of Malta in 2017 were released by WikiLeaks.
VATICAN – Internal documents relating to the public crisis that led to the resignation of the grand master of the Knights of Malta in 2017 were released by WikiLeaks.
Published in International
January 29, 2019

Canada’s abuse guidelines earn praise

Only about half of the national bishops' conferences in the world have adopted Vatican-approved guidelines for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and promoting child protection, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said.

The priest hand-picked by Pope Francis to chair the Feb. 21-24 summit on clerical sexual abuse at the Vatican has thrust the Canadian model for protecting minors into the spotlight as Church leaders from around the world prepare for the unprecedented meeting.

Published in Canada
January 29, 2019

Vatican doctrinal official steps down over sexual advances to nun

Theologian Fr. Herman Geissler, 53, member of a community called The Spiritual Family The Work, submitted his resignation Jan. 28 to the prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, who then granted his request.
VATICAN – An Austrian priest under canonical investigation stepped down as an official at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in an effort "to limit the damage already done to the congregation and to his community," the doctrinal office said.
Published in International
January 28, 2019

Papal academy examining the future of ‘robo-ethics’

“Pepper,” a humanoid robot designed to welcome and take care of visitors and patients, holds the hand of a newborn baby next to his mother at AZ Damiaan hospital in Ostend, Belgium. The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life has added robotics to its list of specialized areas of study.

VATICAN – Even though today’s modern tools and technologies are hardly human, the Pontifical Academy for Life is zeroing in on the world of robots and machines powered by artificial intelligence.

Published in International
January 28, 2019

Real Catholic media don't look for heretics everywhere, Vatican official says

Reporters follow Pope Francis into the plane as he board at Tocumen International Airport after attending World Youth Day in Panama City Jan. 27, 2019.
VATICAN – The rise of media that call themselves Catholic but seem to exist only to judge others is less about criticizing Pope Francis and more about the misguided notion that to affirm one's own orthodoxy, one must find someone to label a heretic, said a Vatican communications official.
Published in International
January 28, 2019

Vatican affirms support of universal health care

Sarah Plant comforts her grandmother, Barbara Lant, who awaits treatment at Milton Keynes University Hospital in England June 26, 2018. "If we had to pay for health care, we wouldn't have been able to afford it. I don't really want to think about what it would have been like," said Plant.
GENEVA – The Vatican supports efforts to build stronger and sustainable essential health care services on the way toward achieving universal health coverage, a Vatican official said.
Published in International
January 25, 2019

World's Christians are making progress in unity, Vatican official says

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is pictured in a 2017 photo. Despite some new tensions and continuing struggles to overcome centuries of division, "practically the whole of Christianity is in a process of advancing beyond the controversies and competition of the past, toward greater understanding, trust and solidarity," said Bishop Farrell.
VATICAN – Despite some new tensions, "practically the whole of Christianity is in a process of advancing beyond the controversies and competition of the past, toward greater understanding, trust and solidarity," said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Published in International
January 24, 2019

Vatican summit to create task force in every continent for protection of minors

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a professor of psychology and president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, is pictured in a 2015 photo.
VATICAN – Since the work of child protection must continue after the February meeting at the Vatican on safeguarding, one organizer said they plan on creating a "task force" with teams on every continent.
Published in International
January 23, 2019

Swiss Guard replaces metal helmets with lightweight 3D-printed headgear

The Swiss Guard have starting using helmets made with a 3D printer and tough, weather-resistant ASA thermoplastic. The cooler, more lightweight headgear is crafted in the "morion" style of the Renaissance. The new ceremonial helmets were used by the 110 Swiss soldiers for the first time Jan. 22, 2019, during a special ceremony commemorating the 513th anniversary of their foundation by Pope Julius II.
VATICAN CITY – While the Swiss Guard's halberds and uniforms have remained largely unchanged over the centuries, its ceremonial helmets are now a product of 21st-century technology.
Published in International
January 22, 2019

State-sanctioned bishop says he'll work to adapt religion to Chinese influences

Chinese Catholics pray during Christmas Eve Mass at the Church of St. Saviour in Beijing.
BEIJING – The president of China's state-sanctioned bishops' conference has pledged to work with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association to develop the Sinicization of religion in the communist nation.
Published in International
January 21, 2019

Pope closes Ecclesia Dei, transfers pastoral care of traditionalist Catholics to CDF

Mass in the Extraordinary Form being celebrated at Holy Family Catholic Church in Archdiocese of Toronto.
VATICAN – Pope Francis has closed the pontifical commission that had been responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics attached to the pre-Vatican II Mass, transferring the commission's tasks to a special section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Published in Faith
January 17, 2019

Vatican releases pastoral guide to help church fight human trafficking

A man walks past a banner reading "Stop human trafficking" in 2018 in Valletta, Malta. The Vatican has created a set of pastoral guidelines to inspire and improve the church's work in addressing the crime of human trafficking and the care of its victims worldwide.
VATICAN – The Vatican has created a set of pastoral guidelines to inspire and improve the church's work in addressing the crime of human trafficking and the care of its victims worldwide.
Published in International
January 17, 2019

Vatican summit to help nations lagging on abuse policies, moderator says

Only about half of the national bishops' conferences in the world have adopted Vatican-approved guidelines for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and promoting child protection, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said. Former head of Vatican press office, Father Lombardi was named to moderate the February summit on abuse called by Pope Francis. He is pictured in a 2018 photo.
VATICAN – Only about half of the national bishops' conferences in the world have adopted complete, Vatican-approved guidelines for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and promoting child protection, said the Jesuit named to moderate the Vatican's February summit on abuse.
Published in International
January 16, 2019

Pope Francis wants sex abuse summit to lead to accountability, prevention

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago has been appointed by Pope Francis to be part of the organizing committee for the Vatican's Feb. 21-24 global bishops meeting to address clerical sexual abuse. Cardinal Cupich is pictured in front of Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna of Malta, also appointed a member of the committee, at the Vatican Oct. 18.
VATICAN – At the upcoming meeting on protecting minors, Pope Francis wants leaders of the world's bishops' conferences to clearly understand what must be done to prevent abuse, care for victims and ensure no case is whitewashed or covered up.
Published in International
January 14, 2019

Clerical abuse survivor wants Vatican summit to increase accountability

Clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins is seen at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland August 24, 2018.
DUBLIN – A prominent survivor and advocate for those affected by clerical abuse has urged Pope Francis to publicly name bishops who have been found guilty of negligence by church tribunals.
Published in International
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