After CDF Prefect Luis Ladaria Ferrer SJ reaffirmed the impossibility of ordaining women in the Catholic Church, it has become clear that cardinal-elect Ladaria’s statements run counter to a position recently enunciated by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

In an article in L’Osservatore Romano on 30 May, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated that expressing doubt about the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood “creates serious confusion among the faithful.”

Interviewed on the subject in his Easter interview for the Salzburger Nachrichten of 1 April 2018, Vienna archbishop Cardinal Schönborn referred specifically to the possibility of change via a Council. He stated that the question of women’s ordination was a question that “can certainly only be clarified at an [Ecumenical] Council. It cannot be solved by a Pope alone. It is far too important a question for it to be solved from the desk of a Pope.”

Asked whether he was only talking about ordination of women to the priesthood, he said he meant the ordination to the diaconate, the priesthood and the episcopate. He was then asked whether it was possible for Pope Francis alone to give the go-ahead for a women’s diaconate.

The study examined two surveys of the behaviour of thousands of elementary school students enrolled in public, Catholic, and non-Catholic pri-vate schools. According to the teachers in the surveys, students at Catholic schools engaged in fewer “externalizing behavi-ours,” meaning they did not fight, get angry, act impulsively, or disturb on-going activities as frequently as students at other schools.

What’s more, Catholic school students are “more likely to control their temper, respect others’ property, accept their fellow students ideas, and to handle peer pressure.” This is true across demographic lines. According to its website, the Fordham Institute promotes educational excellence for every child in America via quality research, analysis, and commentary. It is often described as a conservative think-tank.

While the study is encouraging, CATO Institute expert Corey A. DeAngelis warns that it is not causal, (as there was no real way to create a control group), and there could be other factors for a child’s good behaviour than the type of school he or she attends.

Still, DeAngelis says there are reasons to believe that Catholic schools in particular could provide an environment to develop a sense of self-discipline.

“Religious schools may have a competitive advantage at shaping character skills because students are not just held accountable to teachers, they are also held accountable to God,” DeAnglis told CNA.

DeAngelis also speculates that the close-knit nature of many Catholic schools could foster an environment which would further benefit its students.

“Children are more likely to feel engaged and interested in a school with a strong school culture,” he explained. Cristo Rey Network CEO Elizabeth Goettl credits the high standards set by Catholic educators for this result.

Pope Francis has stalled the German bishops’ plan to loosen restrictions on giving communion to Protestants telling them their document on the topic is “not ready” for publication.

A two-thirds majority of the German hierarchy had voted in favour of a “pastoral hand-out” that would have made it easier for non-Catholic Christians married to Catholics to receive the sacraments. But seven bishops including a cardinal protested against the move and appealed to Rome. In a letter addressed to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, President of the German Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says the Pope has ruled against publishing the document on the grounds of preserving the integrity of Catholic doctrine and Church unity. “The question of admission to communion for evangelical Christians in inter-confessional marriages is an issue that touches on the faith of the Church and has significance for the universal Church,” Archbishop Ladaria writes in his letter which is also copied to the bishops.

Pope Francis on June 11, accepted the resignation of three Chilean bishops including the controversial Juan Barros following a child sex abuse scandal in Chile which has come to haunt his papacy.

The entire Chilean delegation of bishops tendered its resignation to the Pope after a series of meetings at the Vatican.

The mass resignation of an entire delegation of bishops is almost unheard of, having last happened two centuries ago.

Several members of the Chilean Church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.

The scandal is the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church, and Argentina-born Francis has said it must not happen again on his watch.

But the pontiff himself became mired in the scandal when, during a trip to Chile in January, he defended Bishop Barros who was accused of covering up Bishop Karadima’s wrongdoing.

Bp Karadima was suspended for life by the Vatican over the allegations of child molestation.

A new Vatican document cautions against the dangers of highly competitive children’s sports, political and economic pressures on athletes to win “at all costs” and the unsportsman like or violent behaviour of fans.

The document on sports also calls on every group or institution sponsoring sports programs to have expert-guided child protection policies in place and it urged bishops, parishes and lay Catholics to be proactive in helping “humanize” sports.

The 52-page document high-lighted the church’s positive view of the important values inherent to sport and blew the whistle on the growing threats in the sports world, including corruption, over-commercialization, manipulation and abuse.

The document — meant for all Catholics and “people of good-will” — also was an invitation to the church to offer itself as a valuable resource, partner and leader in safeguarding the dignity of the human person and all of creation.

In fact, it made specific reference to the need to protect the environment when it comes to hosting sporting events… ensuring “that they are treated in a morally appropriate way and not as mere objects.”

The two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners slain by suspected herdsmen on April 24 in Benue State were buried on May 22 amid nationwide peaceful protest by the Catholic faithful. The two priests, Rev Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, and 17 members of the congregation while killed during an early morning mass at St Ignatius Catholic Church at Ayar Mbalom in the Gwer East Local Govern-ment Area of Benue State. The 19 were given a mass burial on May 22 at Se Sugh Maria Pilgrimage Centre, Ayati Ikpayongo in Benue State.

In attendance was the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who conveyed President Muhammadu Buhari’s condolence message to the Catholic Church and the people of Benue. Osinbajo, while lamenting the killing, said though nothing could be done to restore the lives of the slain, “we can ensure justice for them by apprehending and punishing the assailants.” The Christian Association of Nigeria called on Buhari to suspend his second term ambition, till he had addressed and stopped the killings by herdsmen.

Catholic faithful across the country embarked on a peaceful protests in compliance with the directive by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abeo-kuta, Ogun State, Oluka-yode Odetoyinbo, and his counterpart in Jalingo, Taraba State, Dr Charles Hammawa, demanded Buhari’s resignation for failing in his responsibility of protecting lives and property of Nigerians.

Speaking during a requiem mass at St Anne Catholic Church, Ibara, Ogun State, Odetoyinbo noted that after the April 24 attack in Benue, more people had been killed by marauding herdsmen across the country with the government feeling helpless.