News in Activities

Why Donald Trump should spend the rest of his life in prison

The riot was convened by him, and then egged on by him as it developed. It was a palpable attempt to stop the constitutional process dead in its tracks, ending the formal recognition of Joe Biden as the next President. To incite insurrection is sedition probably bordering on treason. To try by violence to prevent a rightfully elected president taking office certainly is. Donald Trump deserves to spend the rest of his days in prison.

The tragedy of all-pervading Church politics

In the Catholic Church in the United States, one of the most important Churches in the world, the structures of ecclesial conversation have all but broken down. One of the tragedies of contemporary Catholicism is that the Church has become overly politicized. 

Wisdom from the East: Cardinal Luis Tagle

The charismatic, socially progressive, doctrinally cautious head of one of the Vatican’s most powerful departments talks to Catherine Pepinster of his hopes and fears for the post-Covid world.

What God means in our context

And that has led me to submit that all the love that the cosmos experiences, in every natural being, is itself the repository of all that each one aspires to as the fulfilment of her/his life. We've given it the name love. We have diminished it by using the name God, but that really is what God means in our context: love.

The prioritizing of love as a dynamic of living

Patris Corde, "with a father's heart".

The Letter marks the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. Pope Francis says his own plans to write the apostolic letter on St.Joseph "increased during these months of pandemic".  Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an  incomparable role in the history of salvation.

The rude and the profane – how Christmas carols from ages past can brighten this bleak midwinter

Christmas is going to have its job cut out to enliven the bleak midwinter of 2020. Out of concern for public health, festive celebrations are going to be circumscribed by the toughest government imposed regulations since the killjoy, Bible-bashing Puritans tried to ban Christmas observances altogether in the mid-seventeenth century.

Pope advances sainthood cause of judge killed by Mafia

 Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of one woman and seven men, including an Italian judge who was murdered by the infamous Sicilian Mafia. During a meeting yesterday with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the Pope signed a decree recognising the martyrdom of Rosario Livatino, who was murdered by four members of the Mafia organization, commonly known as Cosa Nostra, in 1990. 

Pope Francis finds hope in crisis

After a year in which the Vatican has grappled with a global pandemic and financial scandals, and where Covid-19 restrictions saw the closure of church buildings across the globe, the Pope urged his closest collaborators not to try and shield themselves from difficulties.

COVID-19 puts canon law to the test

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the way most Catholics around the world are used to worshiping, having led to measures ranging from outright bans on physical gatherings to limits on the size and behavior of congregations. The various restrictions have raised numerous theological, liturgical and spiritual questions.

Goodbye to all that - Populism in retreat

Populism, the idea of a revolt of “the people” against the elites, has been the most discussed if slippery of political concepts of the century so far. The books and learned articles have poured out from the professors and the political commentariat. Of course 2016 was the annus mirabilis for the populists. Brexit, a raw populist project, won in England, and Donald Trump won in America.

Pope Francis and preparations for a Covid Christmas

Pope Francis is being forced to cancel or curtail, one by one, special Christmas holiday events that have long been favorites of the people of Rome and Catholics around the world. In order to avoid drawing a huge crowd that the pope had decided to skip one of the most beloved customs of the season -- the December 8 flower tribute to Our Lady near the famous Spanish Steps in central Rome.

Pope Francis turns 84

Pope Francis probably won't be celebrating next Thursday when he marks his 84th birthday. That's because it seems he's just not much interested in celebrating any kind of personal milestones or honors. No harm in that. In fact, it's something actually quite admirable. And rare in this day and age. 

Ampleforth banned from taking new pupils

The report’s findings state: “Pastoral care remains an exceptional strength of the school. Parents remarked on an inclusive culture amongst the pupils, and with numerous mentions of individualised care by members of staff. Instances of criticism were unusually rare, and with no particular theme emerging. There is no concern about child safeguarding issues, with parents feeling this is entirely a historic matter, and that external parents’ criticisms on these grounds are annoyingly unfounded.” Ampleforth said: “We have lodged a complaint to Ofsted and await the outcome of that complaint.”

When Vatican officials train for leadership

They are priests, male and women religious and even lay people employed by the Church who have come for a week-long leadership training workshop. It took place from October 19-26 at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus, just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square.

Pope launches "Year of St. Joseph" in yet another response to pandemic

The United States is in desperate need of healing, but don't look to the bishops

Most average Catholics around the world probably don't know the name of their local bishop. And fewer still could tell you who serves as president of the national episcopal conference in their country. That's probably not such a bad thing. As some recent events have shown, Catholics probably aren't losing out much by not knowing or having a whole lot of contact with these men of the Church who like to call themselves shepherds.

Ex-Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia embraces Christianity

 Chaem is believed to have overseen the killing of tens of thousands of people from 1977-78. ''Don't blame me for committing wrongs," "What I did was supposed to help and protect people's lives. I led people to do their work, to learn how to raise their children, and how to grow crops. There was nothing wrong with that."

Jesuit Refugee Service: '40 years of accompaniment'

Thirteen New Cardinals Serving the Church

With the new cardinals, who will become such on October the 5th, the composition of the College of Cardinals will change considerably. At the time of writing, the cardinals, who then numbered 213, were to become 226, of whom 128 would have voting rights, being less than 80 years old. The cardinals appointed by Pope Francis will become the absolute majority.