Groups across a wide spectrum reacted with dismay and concern to passage of a law in the Australian state of Victoria to ban “conversion” practices. Some called it an attack on freedom of religion and speech.
International News
Catholic Aid Agency Laments ‘Cyclical Violence’ in Eastern Congo
A leading Catholic aid agency has condemned what it calls “cyclical violence and continuing human rights abuses targeting civilian populations in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces” of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Vatican Laments ‘Massacre of Elderly’ Due to COVID
After the “massacre of the elderly” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican is calling for the world to re-think the way it cares for old people.
Potential Trappists Offered Virtual Introduction to Religious Life With ‘eNovice’
Koningshoeven Abbey in the Netherlands has launched an online platform for aspiring monks: eNovice. This digital novitiate is a world first, according to the Dutch Trappists.
In ‘State of the World’ Speech, Pope Francis Talks COVID, Myanmar, 9/11
Pope Francis said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic shows there are parts of the world that are “seriously ill,” not as a result of the virus but in its natural environment, its economic and political processes, and even more so in in its human relationships.
Analysis: Pope’s Move for Women’s Rights Anything but a Token Gesture
In what’s being hailed as a demonstration that Pope Francis is in earnest about empowering women within ecclesiastical structures, on Feb. 5, for the first time ever, the pontiff named a woman as the Promoter of Justice for the Appeals Court of the Vatican City State.
Naming Undersecretaries for Synod, Pope Francis Gives a Woman a Vote
Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart will not be the first woman undersecretary of a major Vatican office, but she will be the first woman with a right to vote at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.
The Naked Truth of Discrimination
After more than four years waiting for justice, an elderly Coptic Christian woman, who was attacked and dragged naked down the street by a Muslim mob in her village in Egypt, feels shock and injustice as the court ruling acquitted the assailants. The acquittal by the Minya Governorate criminal court of three defendants — of a father and his two sons — in December has provoked outrage among Coptic Christians and rights groups.
Cardinal Maradiaga, Close Papal Adviser, Hospitalized With COVID-19
Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, who leads the council of cardinals that advises Pope Francis on the reform of the Catholic Church’s central government, was hospitalized after presenting COVID-19 symptoms.
Myanmar Cardinal Appeals for No Bloodshed, Return to Democracy
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has appealed to the people of Myanmar — including the army, which staged a coup Feb. 1 — to remain calm and to work for open lines of communication so democracy can prevail.