Eighteen years ago, on August 16, 2005, the founder of the Taize ecumenical community was attacked and killed during evening prayer. He was stabbed several times in the neck and died shortly after being carried from the church by some of his brothers.
The Catholic and the Anglican Churches in Wales have announced they will co-operate on plans to “develop” Holywell, the ancient shrine of St Winefride. The Catholic Bishop of Wrexham, Peter Brignall, and the Anglican Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, have signed a pledge to develop Holywell as “an integrated place of worship, pilgrimage and tourism of World Heritage class”.
In recent years, the movement towards Christian unity, which had quickened after the Second Vatican Council, seemed to have become mired in a quagmire of insurmountable difficulties. The synodal process launched by Pope Francis has changed all that. The extraordinary synodal journey is not one that the Catholic Church is embarking on alone.
"I feel angry and disgusted at these actions," Pope Francis said in an interview in the United Arab Emirates' Arabic language daily "Al Ittihad", published on July 3. "Any book considered sacred by its authors must be respected out of respect for its believers, and freedom of expression must never be used as an excuse to despise others, and to allow this, must be rejected and condemned," he said.
The lead bishop on migration issues for the Catholic Church in England and Wales has backed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s criticisms of the government’s Illegal Migration Bill as a “morally unacceptable” set of laws.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía will represent Pope Francis in Westminster Abbey. Cardinal Vincent Nichols is to become the first Catholic bishop to play a formal role in the Coronation of a British monarch since the Reformation, when he blesses King Charles III during the ceremony in Westminster Abbey on 6 May. It will be witnessed by a papal delegation led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See Secretary of State, the first papal representative to participate in a British Coronation for almost 500 years.
The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have urged Catholics “in our lands” to pray for King Charles III and Queen Camilla as the Coronation approaches. They issued a prayer card for use from 3 May to 5 May as it emerged that a “relic of the True Cross” donated by Pope Francis has been incorporated into the Cross of Wales, a new processional cross presented by the King as a centenary gift to the Church in Wales.
Pope Francis has given King Charles III a “relic of the True Cross” as a personal gift. The relic has been incorporated into the Cross of Wales, a new processional cross presented by the King as a centenary gift to the Church in Wales. The Cross of Wales will lead the Coronation procession at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.
Interreligious dialogue needs to understand the cultural interweaving of religions in different contexts, says Ambrogio Bongiovanni, the director of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Interreligious Studies. For example, the relationship between Christianity and Islam in Europe is different from the relationship between Christianity and Islam in South Asia, or Iran, says Professor Bongiovanni, who also teaches Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Sources close to the conservative Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which represents churches on every continent and the majority of Anglicans worldwide, have said that they fully expect the organisation to “formally disassociate” from both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England.
For centuries the interests of the Latin Catholics living in the Ottoman Empire – this year is the 100th anniversary of its fall, a fate decided by the victors in the First World War – had been protected at the Sublime Porte by the representative of France. This right originally had its basis in the “Capitulations,” agreements of a politico-commercial nature that soon opened up to the protection of individuals or individual communities residing in the Empire.
The Church of England is considering whether to use gender-neutral terms to refer to God, a spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that there are no plans to “to abolish or substantially revise” the existing liturgy.
At Vatican II, the bishops came from 116 countries, most of them native born: 36 percent from Europe, 23 percent from Latin America, 12 percent from North America, 20 percent from Asia and Oceania, and 10 percent from Africa. By the time of the 1985 Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome, 74 percent of the bishops came from countries other than Europe or North America, as do more than 70 percent of the world’s Catholics today.
The President of South Sudan says he will resume his engagement with a Church-led peace process in response to Pope Francis’ landmark ecumenical pilgrimage to the war-torn country. President Salva Kiir made the announcement in the garden of the presidential palace on the afternoon of 3 February in front of the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Church of Scotland’s moderator, Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, will begin a joint visit to South Sudan on 3 February. What impact could their ecumenical journey together have on this conflict-ridden country? Denominations? Dr Haruun Ruun, a former leader of the New Sudan Council of Churches, said to a European visitor: “You are the ones who had the Reformation, not us. Our denomination is survival.”
In recent years, religion has become increasingly present in discussions of international politics. This is partly due to the recognition that religious communities are contributing to some of the conflicts that mar the international scene today. Religiously inspired nationalist movements are among the more dangerous ways that religion can lead to conflict today. On the other hand, religious communities can also be important agents of peace. Pope Francis has been an important religious contributor to peace, both through his actions and his teaching.
King Charles III not only became Britain's monarch immediately upon the death of his mother, but he also became the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. And at his coronation he will be granted the symbolic title "Defender of the Faith", as have all British sovereigns since 1521. But in an interview in 1994 when he was still only the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, Charles mused over the exact meaning of that title."
Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. In 2022, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the more liberal provinces with inclusive policies.
In recent decades Christian scholars have written much about the saving work of Christ reaching those who follow other religions. A dimension needing more consideration is that of the priesthood of Christ. How can the theology of religions be enriched by reflection on the high priesthood of Christ? We begin with the Second Vatican Council, then focus on the Letter to the Hebrews, and finish with Paul and John.
Most Indians like to brag that theirs is a very “tolerant” society and compare it with China, for instance, or the Islamic countries of West Asia. But speak to a Dalit, a tribal or a woman in this country, and you get a very different story. The truth is that a caste-ridden society can never be respectful and accepting of others, and in the India of today not only is there violence based on caste but growing intolerance based on religion.
