Bandar Seri Begawan: Cardinal-designate Cornelius Sim certainly was surprised to learn Pope Francis had chosen him to be one of 13 new cardinals. “For me, it was a bit of a shock and unexpected,” Cardinal-designate Sim told Vatican News. Sim, 69, is Vicar Apostolic of Brunei. His 1989 ordination markedContinue Reading
By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City: A new coin minted by the Vatican City State depicts a woman carrying the earth in her womb. The artist who designed the coin, which commemorates Earth Day, has said the design was his response to the ecological theme he was commissioned to portray. TheContinue Reading
Assisi: Pope Francis on October 3 signed his new encyclical, Fratelli tutti, during a visit to Assisi, an Italian town associated with St Francis of Assisi. In his first official trip outside Rome since the pandemic struck Italy, the Pope celebrated Mass at the tomb of his namesake, St. FrancisContinue Reading
By Courtney Mares Rome, July 1, 2020: Benedict XVI’s older brother Monsignor Georg Ratzinger died July 1, just a little more than one week after the pope emeritus’ visit. Monsignor Georg Ratzinger died in Bavaria at the age of 96. The pope emeritus was able to say a last goodbyeContinue Reading
June 19, 2020: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued a report recommending a “binding agreement” between the United States and Pakistan, with the goal of encouraging Pakistan to improve its treatment of religious minorities. Laws against blasphemy in Muslim-majority Pakistan have led to death sentences forContinue Reading
By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jun 19, 2020: With a new 200-page document, the Vatican is encouraging Catholics to put their faith into action to promote integral ecology and care of creation, following the inspiration of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’. The introduction of On the Journey for Care ofContinue Reading
Rome, June 10, 2020: With police brutality in focus around the world, one priest says it is important to remember a policeman who might one day be declared a saint: Vice-Sergeant Salvo D’Acquisto, an Italian policeman who gave his life for those he had sworn to protect. During the SecondContinue Reading
Texas, June 5, 2020: Pope Francis has called a bishop in the United States after the prelate joined a demonstration against racial discrimination to pray for George Floyd, an African-American killed by a policeman. Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, on June 3 told local newsContinue Reading
Vatican City: The Vatican published an instruction on May 15 aimed at applying norms established in Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic constitution on women’s contemplative orders, which emphasises the need for networks of monasteries in contemplative life. The instruction states that all monasteries of nuns must be affiliated with a federation, orContinue Reading
The Pope published the encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968, which reaffirmed the Church’s teaching against contraception Continue Reading