Login      Register  
Subscription

More Protestant churches shut as members leave: study

With fewer than 50% of Americans holding formal memberships in churches in 80 years, more Protestant church-es are closing than opening nationwide, and further decline appears “inevitable,” new data show. Estimates made by the Nashville-based Lifeway Research, show that in 2019, well before many churches were forced to close in 2020 due to the coronavirus […]

Key Spanish archdiocese to combine parishes amid falling numbers

The Barcelona Archdiocese will combine most parishes into larger pastoral communities, amid falling church attendance and secularization. A statement on the archdiocesan website said most Spanish dioceses were facing the same process. It said three to six parishes would be grouped together, resulting in 48 pastoral communities. “The intention of an eventual diocesan reorganization is […]

Pope moves youth seminary out of Vatican amid abuse trial

Pope Francis has decided to move a youth seminary outside Vatican City, taking action before the Vatican’s criminal tribunal renders a verdict in a sex abuse trial involving a former seminarian and an ex-rector. The Vatican made no mention of the ongoing trial in its announcement  that the St Pius X pre-seminary would relocate somewhere in […]

Pakistani Christians protest over poisoning case

More than 300 mourners protested for several hours alongside the body of a Christian laborer allegedly poisoned by Muslims as officials urged them to bury their dead. “O Lord we are helpless” and “Injustice with Christians” stated placards as villagers from Tariqabad blocked a major road near Gojra city of Pakistan’s Punjab province on May […]

Cemetery of sorrow: Catholics care for babies who never lived

A group of Vietnamese women whose husbands died or work far from home devote themselves to burying the fetuses of babies resulting from abortions or miscarriages. The women, from Nam Vien Parish in Tien Du district neighbouring the northern city of Bac Ninh, provide a service that other married women who are busy looking after […]

Hmong village boy takes first vows as Oblate religious

At the chapel of Mai Thien Loc Theologate of the Oblates of Mary of Immaculate Conception (OMI), the superior of the Vietnam Mission received the vows of eight novices, including Brother Joseph Tinh A Senh, a son of Dien Bien Parish in Hung Hoa Diocese. He belongs to the Hmong ethnic group. This is good […]

Philippine Church issues warning over fake social media

Manila Archdiocese has issued a notice warning Catholics not to be fooled by fake social media accounts purportedly owned by the Philippine capital’s recently appointed archbishop, saying he has no social media account on any platform. People have reported several accounts on Facebook using the name and photos of Cardinal Jose Advincula. One Facebook page […]

Christian leaders offer to mediate Papua peace talks

Churches in Papua have offered to mediate talks between the Indonesian government and separatist groups in a bid to ease tensions in the restive region. The offer comes amid an escalation in violence in Papua that has seen hundreds of troops deployed and many people dis-placed in a crackdown following the government’s decision on April […]