Beijing: China banned reality talent programmes Sept. 2 and ordered broadcasters to promote more masculine representations of men, in a wide-ranging crackdown on “immoral” pop culture Beijing believes is leading young people astray. Talent shows that put hundreds of aspiring young performers through rigorous boot camps and subject them toContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis addressed the Vatican financial scandals in a sit-down radio interview that aired Wednesday, saying he hoped that Cardinal Angelo Becciu is innocent of the charges against him. “I hope with all my heart that he is innocent. Besides, he was a collaborator of mine and helpedContinue Reading
Dublin: Ireland’s housing minister has contacted the Archbishop of Armagh suggesting that the Catholic Church could better organize property sales to address a major housing shortfall, with tens of thousands of new homes needing to be built. Darragh O’Brien, Ireland’s Minister for Housing, has sent a letter to Archbishop EamonContinue Reading
Dhaka, — A court in Bangladesh has sentenced six members of a banned group to death and acquitted two others in connection with the murder of two LGBTQ rights activists five years ago. Xulhaz Mannan was the editor of Bangladesh’s first and only gay rights magazine, Roopban. Mahbub Rabby TonoyContinue Reading
By Robin Gomes Rome: Myanmar’s leading Catholic Churchman has lashed out against the “so-called leaders of the time” saying they have “failed in their leadership roles and responsibilities.” Delivering a homily at Mass on August 29 at the St. Mary’s Cathedral, Cardinal Charles Bo used the day’s scripture readings toContinue Reading
Warsaw: A Catholic layman will represent the Church in Poland at the official opening of the synodal process leading to the 2023 synod of bishops meeting in Rome. Aleksander Bańka, a professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, southern Poland, was appointed as a delegate of the Church inContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis on Aug. 29 urged Christians to intensify their prayer, penance, and fasting for the situation in Afghanistan, as he entrusted the souls of those who have died to God’s mercy. “In historical moments like this we cannot remain indifferent, the history of the Church teaches usContinue Reading
Rome: Five members of the Missionaries of Charity and 14 disabled children from an orphanage in Afghanistan arrived August 25 at Rome’s international airport. A Catholic priest and the sisters arrived on one of two evacuation flights from Kabul that landed in Rome carrying a total of 277 people. FatherContinue Reading
North Carolina: The outdoor Mass at Green Hope High School is informal. People dressed casually in shorts and sandals stand or sit in folding camp chairs. At 8:30 a.m., it’s already hot outside. But this hardy group of Catholics is not a second-wave COVID-19 workaround. Mother Teresa Catholic Church, technicallyContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis has appointed a Salesian nun as interim secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Vatican announced. Sister Alessandra Smerilli replaces Monsignor Bruno Marie Duffé and Father Augusto Zampini, respectively secretary and assistant secretary of the Dicastery, both of whom have returned to theirContinue Reading