Vatican City: Pope Francis will make a historic visit to Iraq in March, the Vatican said Dec. 7, the first ever by a pontiff and which will include a trip to Mosul. The 83-year-old has long spoken of his desire to visit the Middle Eastern country, although the Vatican saidContinue Reading
New York: A massive fire gutted a historic church in Manhattan that is home to “New York’s Liberty Bell,” which rang out to mark the birth of the U.S. in 1776. The blaze broke out in an adjacent building just before 5 a.m. Saturday morning, the New York City FireContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis approved Saturday sweeping changes to the Vatican’s financial watchdog authority. The Holy See press office announced Dec. 5 that the pope had ratified new statutes for the Financial Intelligence Authority, renaming the agency created by Benedict XVI in 2010 to oversee Vatican financial transactions. The body,Continue Reading
Rawalpindi: A manhunt is underway in Pakistan for a Muslim man accused of shooting dead a Christian woman who refused to marry him and convert to Islam. Sonia Bibi, 24, was reportedly shot dead at the Fazaia Colony bus stop in Rawalpindi, close to the capital, Islamabad. Police are searchingContinue Reading
Melbourne: The Catholic bishops of Australia and two other Catholic entities have launched a company charged with the safeguarding of children against sexual abuse by clergy. The launch of the Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited comes three years after the release of a 2017 Royal Commission report on child sex abuseContinue Reading
More than 1,600 Rohingya refugees sailed on Friday from Bangladesh’s southern port of Chittagong for the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal, a naval official said, despite opposition from humanitarian groups against the move. The South Asian nation says it is only moving refugees who areContinue Reading
Paris: In the wake of several suspected Islamist attacks in France this year, President Emmanuel Macron has asked the country’s Muslim leaders to sign a “charter of republican values” agreeing to a rejection of Islam as a political movement. According to the BBC, Macron’s proposed charter is one part ofContinue Reading
Vatican City: The Vatican on December 3 announced that Pope Francis has established the Worldwide Prayer Network Foundation as an entity with canonical and Vatican juridical identity. Formerly known as the “Apostleship of Prayer,” the Worldwide Prayer Network works “to coordinate and animate the vast spiritual movement, always very dearContinue Reading
Rome: Pope Francis’ charity brought free flu vaccines and coronavirus tests to homeless people living in a town outside Rome on Dec.2. The Vatican ambulance carried the medical supplies to the small seaside town of Torvaianica, located outside the wider metropolitan area of Rome, about 45 miles south of theContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals met online Dec. 1 to continue work on the new apostolic constitution to govern the Roman Curia, according to a Vatican statement. The seven cardinals and an archbishop secretary are studying “observations, amendments, and proposals received from the dicasteries consulted in recent months”Continue Reading
