“Though several prominent Christian politicians lost their seats in the July election and barely a half of MPs swore their oath of allegiance on the Bible, the House of Commons is more religiously rich and diverse than ever”
“Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, asked all Vatican dicasteries to avoid using artwork that could “indicate indifference to the pain and suffering of so many victims of abuse”.”
“General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the retired soldier who led the reconstruction of the Notre Dame de Paris after the 2019 fire, has fallen to his death while hiking in the Pyrénées near the Spanish border.”
“The fundamental issue behind the conflict is the possession of land, not religion....Tribal Christians in the Indian state of Manipur are reportedly being removed by force from their land by Hindu extremists and abused and killed because of their faith. The real situation is more complicated.”
“In the summer of 1944, Don Aldo Mei was arrested after celebrating Mass in his parish church of Fiano. Charged with helping Jews, deserters and partisans, he was forced to dig his own grave and then shot by an SS firing squad. ”
“Fr Marko Rupnik, accused of the physical and psychological abuse of numerous religious sisters, was dismissed from the Jesuits this month... The Society of Jesus said in a statement today that Rupnik was expelled due to his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience”.”
“In remarks to members of the Central Africa Province of the Society of Jesus, Francis said that the late Benedict XVI “had the courage to [resign] because he did not feel up to continuing due to his health”, but said that he did not “have that on my agenda”.”
A year on from the Russian invasion, there are eight million Ukrainian refugees across Europe, 160,000 of them in the UK. From London to Liverpool to Glasgow – and in towns and villages in-between – the mission of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is to reach beyond its faithful.
“Priests in the Diocese of Portsmouth have criticised the amalgamation of a charitable fund for retired priests with the larger diocesan trust last month.”
“Pope Francis has challenged Patriarch Kirill over his support of the war in Ukraine warning that the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church “cannot become Putin’s altar boy”. ”
“The Orthodox world is being shattered by the war in Ukraine. A close adviser to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew reflects frankly on the state of Orthodoxy before the invasion, and imagines how it needs to change if it is to have a future”
“Last Sunday, speaking to the crowds in St Peter’s Square, he said the Holy See is “ready to do everything” to bring about peace. The Pope’s offer is being taken seriously. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin and Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, spoke by phone.”
“The head of a commission representing the European Union’s Catholic bishops has called for Covid passports to be required for anyone wishing to access religious services in Europe, in the latest move towards a general Church endorsement of tighter controls. ”
“The Pope said in his message: “Time is running out. This occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgement for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care.’”
“The growing tendency to distrust anything tainted by association with the government, with the ‘mainstream media’, or with academic expertise, is all too familiar to a historian of religious movements”
“This month, London has played host to hearings in an independent tribunal to investigate the alleged genocide against the Uyghurs by the Chinese government. One of those giving evidence was the journalist who wrote an exposé of China’s colonial oppression 20 years ago”
“During Pope Francis’ March visit to Iraq, when he seemed to be suffering more than usual from sciatica, a colleague in Rome who is in regular touch with him prayed that she might take some of his pain on herself.”
“now there is a risk of the US Church becoming even more divided – not one community with a variety of different cultures and spiritualities, sometimes in tension with each other, but 2 distinct vers of Catholicism, each claiming orthodoxy and existing in a regime of mutual excommunication”
“It is the largest religious media organisation in the world. The Eternal Word Television Network, known as EWTN, was founded by Mother Angelica, a charismatic Poor Clare nun, in 1981. She established what is now a Catholic media conglomerate ”
In the House of God
O’Malley asks Vatican departments not to use Rupnik artwork
Violence in the Holy Land belongs to ‘worst periods in our history’
Notre Dame restoration chief dies in hiking accident
Getting to the truth in Manipur
Love does not die – the priests who resisted the Nazi occupation of Italy
Marko Rupnik expelled from Jesuits
Resignation 'has not crossed my mind' says Francis
How the Ukrainian Catholic Church is fulfilling its mission to refugees, one year on from the invasion
Concern over retired priests' fund in Portsmouth
Kirill must not be 'Putin's altar boy' says Pope Francis
Nothing can excuse the failure of the Russian Orthodox Church to condemn Putin's war on Ukraine
Has peace a chance? Vatican diplomacy and the war in Ukraine
Comece cardinal backs Covid passports at churches
Pope warns of 'God's judgement' if COP26 fails
Outsiders - the rise of the conspiracy theorists
Who will save the Uyghurs?
Francis - the health check
America’s coming schism?
The EWTN network - forever Trump?