International

Belo sex allegations test Timor Church’s mettle

Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva of Dili, Timor-Leste’s first archbishop who was named a cardinal in August, is set for a baptism of fire that will test his every fibre and that of his countrymen. A credible allegation of sexually abusing minors has been made against one of Cardinal da Silva’s predecessors — the […]

Swiss bishop resigns at age 59 due to ‘inner fatigue’

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a 59-year-old Swiss bishop on October 9 who said “inner fatigue” had made his office “unbearable” to him. Bishop Valerio Lazzeri was in charge of the Diocese of Lugano in Switzerland since 2013. During a press conference Monday afternoon, he said: “Sincerity and complete transparency compel me to tell […]

2022 Ratzinger Prize goes to theologian and to professor of law

On 1st December next, Pope Francis will award the Ratzinger Prize 2022 to Professor Michel Fédou, SJ, and to Professor Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler during a ceremony in the Apostolic Palace’s Clementine Hall. It was launched in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrated authentic and meaningful contributions to theology, much like Pope Benedict XVI had throughout […]

Top Russian prelate says relations with Vatican are ‘practically frozen’

Less than a month after meeting briefly with Pope Francis in Kazakhstan, one of the Russian Orthodox Church’s most senior prelates has said that relations between the two churches are more or less at a standstill. In an interview with the “Church and Peace” program on Russian television station Russia 24, Metropolitan Anthony Sevryuk of Volokolamsk, […]

‘We’ve seen God’s miracle within the crisis’: An interview with Cameroon’s Archbishop Nkea

The Catholic Church — which spans the divide between Francophone and Anglophone Cameroon — has suffered amid the complex crisis. Just last month, gunmen seized five priests, a nun, and three lay people at a church in Nchang, a village in Cameroon’s Southwest Region. Pope Francis appealed for their release, but at the time of writing, […]

At trial, Vatican auditor says he was shocked by misuse of funds

The Vatican auditor general said he was surprised by the lack of ethical standards demonstrated by officials considering in-vestment opportunities, including a failed London property development deal. During the Vatican trial of 10 defendants accused of various charges related to financial malfeasance, Alessandro Cassinis Righini, auditor general of the Holy See and Vatican City State, […]

New poll finds 4 in 10 non-Catholic Latinos were once Catholic and left

A new NBC News/Telemundo poll focusing on the Latino electorate found that 41% of Latinos who do not currently claim Catholicism as their religion said they had previously been Catholic. Jonathan Calvillo, an assistant professor of Latinx studies at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, said the flip side of that statistic is just as important: […]

Knights of Malta Consider Quitting Church

Knights across the world are considering leaving the Catholic Church because of Pope Francis’ reforms, the former grand chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta revealed. In a confidential letter obtained by Church Militant, Albrecht von Boeselager lamented that many confreres had expressed to him “their great dis-appointment in the Holy Father – they […]

Indian bishops slam terror attack on tourists in India’s Kashmir

No action taken against police who assaulted Catholic priests in India