The Vatican and the Chinese government will extend an agreement signed in 2018 regarding the appointment of bishops. As the initial agreement expired Oct. 22, the two sides “have agreed to extend the experimental implementation phase of the provisional agreement for another two years,” the Vatican said in a communique the same day.
A statement by Pope Francis in a documentary film in which he endorses civil unions for same-sex couples has generated a great deal of buzz in the Catholic Church with religious leaders coming down on both sides of the issue.
Pope Francis often has expressed openness to the idea of laws recognizing civil unions, including for gay couples, to protect their rights. The pontiff’s comments in a brief passage in the documentary film, “Francesco,” are similar to the position he took while archbishop of Buenos Aires and echo remarks he has made in several interviews during his pontificate: “Marriage” is only between a man and a woman, but civil union laws could provide legal protection for couples in long-term, committed relationships.
The pontiff, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and an international array of other Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Buddhist leaders gathered on Rome’s Capitoline Hill Oct. 20 to affirm their community’s commitment to peace, dialogue, fraternity and assistance to the poor and needy.
The Catholic Church and the International Red Cross share the common goal of helping the poor and those displaced due to the pandemic and various conflicts around the world, said Peter Maurer, the president of the humanitarian organization.
Over the weekend Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who last month was fired from his Vatican job over accusations of embezzlement, has announced plans to take legal action against media outlets saying he bribed a witness in the abuse trial of his former nemesis, Australian Cardinal George Pell.
The Venezuelan bishops’ conference said government plans for congressional elections in December are “immoral” and would only aggravate the South American nation’s political and humanitarian crisis.
Demonstrators burned two Catholic churches in Chile, where gatherings to mark the one-year anniversary of mass protests against inequality descended into chaos.
A resident at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the residence where Pope Francis lives, tested positive for COVID-19, the Vatican announced.
The collection taken up in parishes around the globe on World Mission Sunday is “as unique as it is rare” because offerings are made by Catholics in the richest and poorest nations, a Vatican official said.
