News
Panel to call for more lay control in Australian church
The plan would see professionals manage church financial, human resources and governance functions, following hundreds of clerical sexual abuse cases and millions of dollars paid in settlements.
Quebec to take ethics, religious culture out of school curriculum
Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said there's still "too much" religion in schools, but experts fear students will be left unprepared for a world where "80% of humanity claims to have a religious tradition."
Massachusetts judge rejects right to physician-assisted suicide
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Mary K. Ames said in her Dec. 31 decision that the legality of the issue is not one for the courts to decide, but doctors can provide information and advise about medical aid in dying.
Gang graffiti tags church, school in Brooklyn Diocese
An individual marked the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and its school on Jan. 12 with the initials of Mara Salvatruccha 13, a violent transnational criminal group that emerged in Los Angeles and has been particularly active on Long Island.
Canadian communities recall friends, relatives killed in Tehran crash
Victims of the Jan. 8 tragedy, the result of a mistaken missile attack by Iranian military, included dozens of Canadians, several of whom had ties to Catholic schools and outreaches.
Poor Clares’ monastery closes; last nuns move on
Through tears, the remaining four sisters and their chaplain bid farewell to friends and supporters, who have counted on the "holy place filled with holy women" in Tennessee for decades.
Knights, New York Archdiocese and others providing aid to quake victims
Online fundraising drives, parish collections and material assistance are helping residents of Puerto Rico, which has been rocked by a series of temblors that have leveled towns and churches.
Vatican wartime archives ready for new batch of scholars
More than 80 researchers have received permission to sift through materials dating from 1939 to 1958, with archive officials expecting a clearer view of how Pope Pius XII grappled with Nazism, the Holocaust and the church in the modern world.
Pope appoints first woman to Vatican foreign ministry post
In a Jan. 15 announcement, Francesca Di Giovanni, a longtime Vatican official, was named an undersecretary in the Vatican's foreign ministry office, where she will oversee intergovernmental organizations and multilateral treaties.
Pope names bishops for Ukrainian dioceses in England, Australia
According to a Jan. 15 Vatican announcement, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski and Redemptorist Father Mykola Bychok will now lead the London and Melbourne Ukrainian Catholic dioceses respectively.