International

1st German Catholic diocese allows women to perform baptisms

The Diocese of Essen has become the first in Germany to allow women to perform baptisms, citing a lack of priests. The diocese said in a statement Monday that Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck tasked 18 lay ministers – 17 of them women – with conferring the sacrament of admission into the Church at a ceremony over […]

Court allows giant statue of Virgin Mary to be built in Brazil

São Paulo State’s Court of Appeals has reversed a 2019 decision that stopped the building of a giant steel statue of the Virgin Mary in Aparecida, the city where Brazil’s major Catholic shrine is located. Now, the 164-feet stainless steel sculpture portraying Our Lady of Aparecida – taller than Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer […]

3 million Filipino families experience “involuntary hunger”: Survey

An estimated three million Filipino families, or 11.8% of Filipino families, experienced involuntary hunger in the last quarter of 2021. A survey done by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows an 11.8% hunger rate in December 2021, higher than the 10%, or about 2.5 million families, in September 2021. It is, however, lower than the […]

Bishops around the world will join Pope Francis in consecration of Ukraine, Russia

Pope Francis on March 25 consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Catholic bishops from around the world have already announced they answer his request for them to join him in the consecration. March 25 is the feast of the Annunciation, and a solemnity on the church calendar. The celebration took […]

Scholar sees war in Ukraine as ‘catastrophe’ for Eastern

“The war in Ukraine is destroying relations between Christians; it is the great schism of Orthodoxy. There are twice as many practicing Ukrainian Orthodox as there are Russian Orthodox. Most of the dioceses that remained under Moscow jurisdiction after the proclamation of autocephaly in 2018 have decided not to cite Patriarch Kirill’s name in their […]

Top European cardinals want changes on homosexuality, priestly celibacy

Over the past week, two leading European cardinals, both of whom enjoy broad favour with Pope Francis, have made public statements calling for a change in the Catholic Church’s current position on the issues of homosexuality and priestly celibacy. In an interview published in Germany’s Catholic News Agency (KNA) earlier this week, Jesuit Cardinal Jean […]

Despite Invasion, Nuns Say They’ll Remain in Ukraine to Serve the People

Women religious in Ukraine are facing Russia’s full-scale invasion of that nation with deter-mined faith and a commitment to service. Two sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great spoke with CatholicPhilly.com directly from Ukraine February 23 and 24 via telephone and the messaging app Viber. “We understand that this is our new mission, […]

Catholic, Orthodox European bishops call on Patriarch Kirill to work for peace in Ukraine

European bishops, both Catholic and Russian Orthodox, are pleading for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, to ask Vladimir Putin to stop the war against Ukraine. According to the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, “our very unity is threatened” by the situation that arose […]

Page 62 of 219« First «...10 20 30...60 616263 64...70 80 90...»Last »

Pope: Red Cross’ humanitarian work shows that fraternity is possible

New Vatican document lists ‘grave violations’ of human dignity