Catholics in England and Wales are being asked whether they think the Bible is fiction or part of an outdated collection of historical documents in a new a national survey into attitudes toward scripture. The Bishops’ Conference launched the survey into Catholic attitudes towards the Bible in preparation for an upcoming year dedicated to Scripture, called the God Who Speaks.
Church groups have been complaining about increased attacks on Christians and their institutions since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in New Delhi five years ago. The BJP supports the idea of establishing a Hindu-only nation.
The Synod in Rome in October last year focused on young people, faith and vocational discernment; in his reflection on the Synod published last week, Pope Francis places the energy, creativity and openness of young people at the centre of his reform of the Church.
As a young Jesuit, Jorge Bergoglio taught literature to a group of rowdy, hormonal teenage boys at a private school in Argentina who, according to one of them, “had no desire to study.”
Bishop Charles Morerod recently told La Croix "the Church reforms itself under the influence of seemingly adverse forces. "Mounting pressure is a key factor to consider in the debates within the Church about the institutional reforms that are needed to address how bishops have failed in handling sex abuse cases. But this pressure on the institutional Church is undeniably different today from that of the past.
"EU churches wish to send a clear signal that they stand for a united Europe", said the Austrian Church's Comece delegate, Bishop Egidius Zsifkovics. "Brexit is a tragic development, particularly since Europe owes so much to Britain, so it's important to all our members that British representatives continue participating in our discussions".
Catholic bishops and Christian activists in India have criticized authorities in two former Portuguese territories, now under Indian federal rule, for cancelling the traditional Good Friday holiday.
Pope Francis' annual Lenten meeting with the priests on 7 March began with a penitential prayer service and individual confessions at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.
An explosive book will be published next week claiming to expose the double lives of priests and cardinals and the deceit of the Church’s condemnations of homosexuality. A former Master of the Dominicans wonders if this crisis could be experienced as a moment of grace.
Local churches in several countries are courting their own problems. There are clamours for reforms from within and without. Specifically referring to some of the latest scandals within the Church in India, the author discusses the thorny issue of obedience, especially religious obedience.
Loyalty to the papacy – even to the point of martyrdom – has been a distinguishing mark of Catholics in these islands since the Reformation. If their leaders now show signs of drifting away from that allegiance, they may need to be gently pulled back to it by their own people.
The number of Christians persecuted for their faith globally has risen by more than 13 per cent, an anti-persecution charity has found. Global charity, Open Doors International, today (16 January) released its “2019 World Watch List”, an annual league table ranking the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.
If there was a common denominator, aside from the Christian faith, that united most pilgrims heading to the opening Mass for World Youth Day 2019 in Panama, it was that each person, in his or her own way, faced a challenge back home.
Myanmar's Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, incoming president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), has prioritised peace, justice, reconciliation and indigenous rights in planning for the Asian church "new evangelization".
A source, on condition of anonymity, told ucanews.com that officials determined that, as three local Christian churches already had crosses removed, the Catholic Church should not be exempted. John, a Catholic of China's so-called 'open church', rather than what is known as the 'underground church', said it was depressing that such problems persisted.
The complex reasons people join the church and remain in it are as complicated and various as the reasons others leave it....For me, well, I’m not getting up on a Sunday morning and wrestling two kids into Mary Janes before nine o’clock for a metaphor. The enormity, the impossibility of the idea, is the whole freaking point.
The Gregorian Reform is key to understanding the relationship between clergy and lay people in the Church today. In an interview with the German monthly, Vatican Magazin, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller has recently written that the present situation in the Church is “comparable to that of the 11th and 12th centuries.”
There is an opportunity – and a desperate need – for churches that are architectural gems to be restored. These heritage buildings may serve as places of prayer and quiet reflection for all.
We celebrate Jan. 1 so vigorously because we hope for better things to come. It articulates our Christmas belief that there can be “news of great joy for all the people.” But it only works if we take it on board. Things will change. So, must we. And that makes some people nervous.
A Vatican delegation has travelled to China to oversee the placement of formerly illicit bishops into dioceses that had been run by underground bishops.The arrangements were made between a Vatican delegation led by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli and seven former illicit bishops from the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and two underground bishops from Mindong and Shantou dioceses of eastern China respectively at a Beijing meeting on Dec. 10.
