World News
Inquiry suggests British-run hospitals stop using end-of-life protocol
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A British official indicated the government will abandon a controversial end-of-life protocol following an anti-euthanasia campaign spearheaded by concerned Catholic physicians. An independent inquiry into the Liverpool Care Pathway has recommended that the protocol be abolished and replaced by "individualized care plans" after evidence of abuse and suffering was discovered.
Be generous givers of mercy, not condemnation, disapproval, pope says
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- God wants people to be generous and merciful, not full of condemnation toward others, Pope Francis said. God is well aware of "our miseries, our difficulties, even our sins, and he gives all of us this merciful heart," capable of being loving and merciful toward others, he told pilgrims gathered outside the papal summer villa.
Vatican updates laws; pope expands jurisdiction of Vatican court
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has approved a major updating of the criminal laws of Vatican City State, including in areas dealing with child abuse and terrorism financing, and has ruled that any Vatican employee can be tried by the Vatican court for violating those laws. The laws were adopted by the Pontifical Commission […]
United Nations asks Vatican to account for all sex abuse allegations
GENEVA (CNS) — A United Nations’ committee concerned with children’s rights is requesting that the Vatican provide complete details about every accusation it has ever received of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, […]
In Timbuktu, majority Muslims, minority Christians reject extremists
TIMBUKTU, Mali (CNS) -- In this ancient city that has become synonymous with the ends of the earth, the recent terrorism of Islamist extremists belies long years of peaceful Muslim-Christian coexistence. "This city is 99 percent Muslim, but all of us are tolerant. We preach tolerance. Islam teaches us to respect all religions," Abdrahamane Ben Essayouti, the chief imam of the fabled desert city, told Catholic News Service.
Egypt’s Catholic leaders welcome Morsi’s ouster, hope for democracy
OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Egypt's Catholic leaders welcomed the military overthrow of the country's Islamist president and voiced confidence that Christians and Muslims can work together to build a "real democracy."
U.S. nun’s killer to serve rest of time under house arrest in Brazil
SAO PAULO (CNS) -- The man who confessed to killing a U.S.-born nun in 2005 in Brazil's Amazon has been released from prison. Rayfran das Neves Sales, who served a little less than eight years of a 27-year sentence for shooting Sister Dorothy Stang, a member of the Notre Dame de Namur Sisters, will carry out the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
Pope to set up ‘study group’ to look into Vatican audits, cardinal says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will be forming a new committee to investigate the findings and concerns expressed in an external audit of the internal budgets of Vatican offices. The pope told the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See that he was thinking of forming "a study group" that would look at issues such as transparency and accountability, South African Cardinal Wilfred F. Napier of Durban told Catholic News Service.
Seven encyclicals that shook the church
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' first encyclical, "Lumen Fidei" ("The Light of Faith"), released July 5, is the latest installment in a centuries' old papal tradition. An encyclical is considered the most authoritative form of papal writing, and though many examples are now remembered only by scholars, the messages of others have continued to resonate within the church and beyond.
In first encyclical, pope celebrates faith as the light of human life
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' first encyclical, "Lumen Fidei" ("The Light of Faith"), is a celebration of Christian faith as the guiding light of a "successful and fruitful life," inspiring social action as well as devotion to God, and illuminating "every aspect of human existence," including philosophy and the natural sciences. The document, released July 5, completes a papal trilogy on the three "theological virtues," following Pope Benedict XVI's encyclicals "Deus Caritas Est" (2005) on charity and "Spe Salvi" (2007) on hope. Publication of the encyclical was one of the most awaited events of the Year of Faith which began in October 2012.