International

Coronavirus impacts Church worldwide

Italy has banned all religious ceremonies, including Masses and funerals, in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The highly restrictive decision keeps the ban on public liturgies in place until 3 April and comes after the government quarantined 16 million people in the north of the country. In the Vatican, Pope Francis’ […]

Krakow archbishop opens beatification causes of St John Paul II’s parents

Archbishop Marek Jêdraszewski of Krakow announced on March 11 that having obtained the approval of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the archdiocese has opened beatification processes for the parents of Saint John Paul II. The Archdiocese of Krakow publicly made the announcement on March 11, setting in motion the beatification causes of John […]

Poll shows pope’s country doesn’t know what the Church does, doesn’t go to Mass

As bishops from Pope Francis’s native Argentina figure out how to pay their own salaries instead of taking funds from the state, a new poll shows that while seven in ten Argentines declare themselves to be Catholic, six in ten don’t know what activities the Church is doing in the country and seven in ten […]

Pew survey shows divide among religious believers over views about Trump

President Donald Trump may be as divisive to religionists as he seems to be to other groups in American society, as indicated by the latest Pew Research Cent-re survey. “We’re seeing a big divide between white Christian and minority Christians and non-Christian groups,” said Pew research associate Claire Gecewicz, who was the lead researcher on […]

Survey shows decline in US Catholics’ concern about global Christian persecution

Global Christian persecution is ranked as less urgent an issue than human trafficking, poverty, climate change and the global refugee crisis. A new poll shows that although more than half of US Catholics are “very concerned” about the persecution of Christians around the world, that level of concern has sharply declined in the past two […]

Ethiopian cardinal barred from event in Eritrea

Ethiopia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew, has been prevented from attending an event in Eritrea by officials barring his exit from the neighbouring country’s primary airport. The action taken by the airport officials in question on 22 February is an apparent break in the protocol followed since the 2018 peace deal between Ethiopia and […]

No handshakes: Viral outbreak spooks Asian places of worship

The few hundred worshippers who showed up were asked to refrain from shaking others’ hands or holding them during prayers to prevent the spread of the virus that started in China. In Hong Kong, Cardinal John Hon Tong, wearing a mask, announced the suspension of public Masses for two weeks and urged churchgoers to instead […]

As evangelicals gain, Catholics on verge of losing majority in Brazil

A survey released in January showed that the percentage of Catholics in Brazil continues to decline, while the proportion of evangelicals has increased at a higher annual rate in the past few years. According to the private institute Datafolha, the proportion of Catholics in Brazil currently corresponds to 51%, while the percentage of evangelicals grew […]

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Palm Sunday bombing at cathedral in Indonesia injures Catholics leaving Mass

Vatican statistics show continued growth in number of Catholics worldwide