Catholics leaving a Palm Sunday Mass at an Indonesian cathedral were targeted by two suicide bombers.
Catholic Church
Analysis: At His Eight-Year Mark, Will Pope Francis Try Turning Down the Temperature?
Internally, his to-do list features a long-simmering reform of the Roman Curia, a sweeping clean-up in money management, the fight against clerical sexual abuse, empowerment of women and laity, a more collaborative (“synodal,” to use his word) mode of decision-making, and more.
USCCB Administrative Committee’s Pastoral Message Marks Year of Pandemic
U.S. life has “dramatically changed” due to the yearlong pandemic, and alongside it, racial injustices and political divisions have shaken the nation, yet there is “comfort in God’s promise,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee said in a March 9 pastoral message.
Historic Trip to Iraq Comes as Many Question Safety of Pope
Pope Francis traveled to Iraq on a first-ever pontiff visit to the birthplace of the biblical figure of Abraham. The Pope’s mission during the three day visit is three-fold: encouraging the Christian community, long- time victim of persecution and extremism; pursuing dialogue with Shia Islam; and encountering the Iraqi nation as a whole.
Pope Says Disabled Persons Have a ‘Right’ to the Sacraments
Pope Francis weighed into a long-standing debate about whether people with intellectual disabilities should be able to receive the sacraments Thursday, saying the disabled are members of equal standing in the Catholic Church and, as such, have the same right to the sacraments as everyone else.
Chaplain to Death-Row Inmates Says Use of Death Penalty in U.S. Must End
A Catholic chaplain to Florida’s death-row inmates used a virtual forum to focus on his most significant lifetime pursuit — raising awareness about the wrongness of America’s use of the death penalty.
Analysis: Could Pope Francis, Biden Find Each Other Like John Paul II and Reagan?
As the dust begins to settle from the tumultuous 2020 presidential election in America, it’s possible that if Biden finally prevails, outside his campaign team no group will emerge as bigger fans of the mail-in ballot than Pope Francis and his allies in the Vatican.
Analysis: Political Tact Doesn’t Stop Pope From (Indirectly) Tweaking Trump
“A foolish consistency,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once famously wrote, “is the hobgoblin of little minds.” People and institutions of all sorts channel their inner Emerson all the time, invoking iron-clad principles when they’re convenient but finding loopholes when they’re not.
Vatican-China Agreement: Secretary Pompeo Enters the Debate
About 10 days before he was expected in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the Vatican “endangers its moral authority” by considering an extension of its 2018 agreement with China on the nomination of bishops.
Nicaragua Bishops Protest Government’s Expulsion of Foreign-Born Priests
Nicaragua’s bishops are urging prayers for peace after the regime’s latest salvo in its war against the Catholic Church.