Canadian bishops, Indigenous leaders postpone Vatican meeting December 7, 2021By Michael Swan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Racial Justice, Vatican, World News The long-planned encounter between Indigenous Canadians and Pope Francis in Rome is being put off while everybody learns more about the omicron variant of COVID-19, according to a joint release from three Indigenous organizations involved in the trip and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Religious freedom commission welcomes U.S. diplomatic boycott of Olympics December 7, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Olympics, Religious Freedom, Sports, World News The Biden administration’s diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing sends “a strong and unequivocal message” to the Chinese government that its persecution of religious minorities will not be tolerated, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Catholic Church taking fresh look at ministry on HBCU campuses December 7, 2021By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service Filed Under: Colleges, Feature, News, Racial Justice, World News The church is taking a fresh look at ministry at the United States’ historically Black colleges and universities.
Pope approves updates to norms for dealing with ‘grave crimes’ December 7, 2021By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, Vatican, World News Pope Francis has given formal approval to a series of updates and modifications that have been made over the years to the norms regarding clerical sexual abuse and other crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Catholic sisters make Advent plea to Biden: End ‘immoral’ immigration rule December 7, 2021By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News They sang Advent hymns in front of the White House Dec. 3, hoping to get the ear of the president so he could consider lifting what they see as a health rule that hurts people trying to find refuge at the southern border.
Pope tells reporters Paris archbishop was hounded out by gossip December 6, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, Vatican, World News Pope Francis told reporters he accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris because the archbishop’s reputation had been destroyed, making it impossible for him to continue leading the French archdiocese.
God’s power is revealed in love, pope says at Mass in Athens December 6, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News God the Almighty almost always chooses the least mighty people and the most desolate places to reveal the power of his love, Pope Francis said.
Attack causes of migration, not those forced to flee, pope says on Lesbos December 6, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Standing in a tent on the shore, Pope Francis said the Mediterranean Sea, “the cradle of so many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death.”
Pope asks pardon for sins that drove Catholic, Orthodox apart December 5, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Like St. John Paul II before him, Pope Francis apologized to members of the Orthodox Church of Greece for the ways Catholics over the centuries had offended them, and he told Catholic leaders that they must embrace their minority status with humility.
In Greece, Pope expresses concern for democracy’s decline in Europe December 5, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News “Here democracy was born,” he told the representatives. “Yet we cannot avoid noting with concern how today — and not only in Europe — we are witnessing a retreat from democracy.”
Vatican announces pope will bring migrants from Cyprus to Italy December 3, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News After Pope Francis denounced putting up “barbed wire” to keep out migrants and the practice of pushing boats back to countries where they face conditions similar to a “lager,” the Vatican announced he would help move a dozen migrants from Cyprus to Italy before Christmas.
God dreams of a world where all are welcomed as family, pope says December 3, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Francis told migrants that, like them, God dreams of a world where everyone recognizes each other as brothers and sisters.