Opinion

NEWCASTLE, Australia — A prosecutor told an Australian court on Tuesday that the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse must be jailed to send a message that such institutional cover-ups will no longer be tolerated. Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone ... read more

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Nearly 500 British priests have signed a statement in support of the papal encyclical that forbade married couples from using contraception. They said the prophetic warnings contained within Humane Vitae (Of Human Life), published by Blessed Pope Paul VI July 25 1968, ... read more

ROME – For decades now, there’s been abundant speculation about the future of Christianity in the Middle East. What sometimes is forgotten beneath the statistics and punditry is that the future actually has faces and names, because it’s composed of human beings, especially the young in whose hands the future ... read more

ROME — When Pope Francis arrives in Geneva on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the World Council of Churches (WCC), he will be following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, who also visited WCC headquarters to deliver ... read more

ROME – After 170 people died in the past two months due to civil unrest and governmental oppression in Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega agreed to stop the violence and to recommence a national dialogue which has the Catholic Church as a mediator. Yet a day after the initial agreement to ... read more

CANBERRA, Australia – As Australian states and territories pass and consider laws requiring priests to break the seal of confession to report cases of child sex abuse, Catholic priests are saying they would go to jail rather than violate the seal. “The state will be requiring us as Catholic priests to ... read more

TRENTON, New Jersey — No motive “can justify these ongoing, seemingly relentless acts of gun violence plaguing our cities,” Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton said after a mass shooting took place in the early morning hours of June 17 during a city arts festival. “The epidemic of gun violence ... read more

The Vatican and Mexico are lamenting how children “are suffering the most” from migration, as the Trump administration comes under increasing criticism for its policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Vatican on Monday released the conclusions of the second Vatican-Mexico conference on international migration, ... read more

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Ireland is now home to “cultural Catholics” who are not “Catholics by conviction,” according to the bishop of Kilmore. Leading a pilgrimage to the Knock shrine, Bishop Leo O’Reilly said on Sunday he had been “troubled in the weeks since the result” of the May 25 ... read more

ROME — If Wittenberg, Germany is where the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, Geneva, Switzerland is where it took root. Nearly 20 years after Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the cathedral doors enumerating his theological objections to Roman Catholicism, the French Reformer John Calvin was welcomed to Geneva ... read more

ROME – After an undisclosed meeting with Pope Francis on June 1, one of the younger brothers of Chile’s most notorious pedophile priest says he long ago lost any doubt regarding the guilt of Father Fernando Karadima, who’s been found guilty of multiple counts of abuse, and asked his brother ... read more

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – One of the best-known writers of the early 20th century could also be a model of sanctity, but the priest charged with compiling a report on the potential of sainthood for G.K. Chesterton says the Church has to determine how much ‘devotion’ to him exists, rather ... read more

ROME – An investigator assigned by Pope Francis to visit Chile’s southern diocese of Osorno, which has been the epicenter of that country’s clerical sexual abuse scandals, has said the pontiff instructed him to ask forgiveness for the suffering those scandals have caused. “Pope Francis has tasked me to ask ... read more

ROME — Former strategic advisor to President Donald Trump Steve Bannon, lashed out at the Catholic Church on Sunday, referring to the institution as “one of the worst instigators of this open borders policy.” Bannon’s remarks regarding immigration were delivered in an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC News, after ... read more

NEW YORK – The Archdiocese of New York announced on Friday that the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral are appealing a court decision that would allow Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s body to be moved to Peoria, Illinois, as his cause for beatification proceeds. The Trustees, who oversee archdiocesan seminaries, “believe ... read more