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Germany’s synodal assembly draws praise, criticism from participants‍

The first Synodal Assembly on the future of the Catholic Church in Germany drew both praise and some criticism, with many of the 230 participants lauding what they called a special atmosphere in the debates on key reforms. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, said t

Belgian Catholic universities to help train imams

Belgium’s Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain will begin educating imams this year in six-year programs that aim to transmit “knowledge of the fundamental values of the Belgian State and the resulting legal principles.” Courses in Dutch will begin in Leuven in February and in French at Louvain in the autumn. Once one bilingual university, […]

Archbishop bans receiving host in the hand

A Catholic Archbishop in Uganda has decreed that Holy Communion can in future be received only by mouth, and not in the hand. The conservative Archbishop of Kampala, the Most Rev Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, said this was because of “many reported instances of dishonouring the Eucharist that have been associated with reception of the Eucharist […]

Pope’s top aides say door still open on married priests, women deacons

Although Pope Francis’s highly anticipated document on the Amazon bypasses the hot-button issues of women deacons and married priests, a number of the Pope’s close advisors have said the door is not definitively closed on either front. In his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), Pope Francis appears to leave the question of married […]

Pope shares with U.S. bishops his frustration with reaction to Amazon text

Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that, like them, he is accused of not being courageous or not listening to the Holy Spirit when he says or does some-thing someone disagrees with – like not mentioning married priests in his document on the Amazon. “You could see his consternation when he said that […]

Middle East patriarchs discuss plight of Christian minorities with Pope Francis

Six Catholic patriarchs from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Feb 7, 2020 to discuss the difficulties faced by Christians in the region and their mass emigration. In the morning of Feb. 7, the Pope met Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon; Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, […]