International

The Catholic Church by the numbers: more Catholics but fewer vocations

The 2024 Pontifical Yearbook and the 2022 Statistical Yearbook of the Church, edited by the Central Statistical Office of the Church, published by the Vatican Printing Press. The Pontifical Yearbook offers information regarding the life of the Catholic Church worldwide for the period ranging from De-cember 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023. The number of […]

Humanitarian organizations urge action against famine in Sudan

Humanitarian organisa-tions working in Sudan and its neighbouring countries are sounding the alarm that Sudan is on the verge of famine, urg-ing all actors to immediately scale-up efforts to avoid the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. The appeal comes ahead of a humanitarian conference to be hosted in Paris on 15 April by […]

Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference releases national code of conduct

In a press release published on 8 April by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), the bishops present the 32-page document, which they say is a means “of furthering the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s ongoing commitment to the safety of children and vulnerable people”. The Document, entitled “Integrity in Our Common Mission” was approved by […]

Cardinal De Donatis appointed new Major Penitentiary

Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, his Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, as the new Major Peni-tentiary. He succeeds Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who has held the post since 2013 and will turn 80 in September this year. Cardinal De Donatis, aged 70, has overseen the administrative needs of the Diocese of Rome […]

Pope takes time to discern appointment of new Cardinal Vicar

On 8 April, a meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Bishops of the diocese of Rome was held in the Apostolic Palace. Due to the delicacy of the office of Cardinal Vicar, Pope Francis informed the bishops, his close collaborators, that he would take time to make a healthy discern-ment on the […]

Pope Francis remembers Benedict XVI in new book: ‘He was like a father to me’

“Benedict was a man of great gentleness. In some cases, people took advantage of him, perhaps without malice, and limited his movements. Unfortunately, in a certain sense, they were encir-cling him. He was a very delicate man, but he was not weak: he was strong. But he was humble, and preferred not to impose. So […]

Pope’s Secretary of State visits Brazilian President and presides over opening of Brazilian Episcopate Assembly

On 8 April, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Bishop Giam-battista Diquattro, the Pope’s Nuncio to Brazil, and Arch-bishop Jaime Spengler of Porto Alegre (RS) and President of the National Con-ference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), were received by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Palácio […]

Pope’s Vocations Day message: ‘Pilgrims of hope, builders of peace’

Pope Francis releases his message for the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, celebrated on April 21, and urges Christians to welcome our shared vocation to sow the seeds of hope and peace in our world. The Pope’s message focuses on the theme: “Called to sow seeds of hope and to build peace.” The […]

Salesians elect Maltese priest Fabio Attard as Don Bosco’s 11th successor

Pope Francis does not accept Cardinal Koch’s resignation: could continue at least until anniversary of Council of Nicea