News

Writing to the political, military and religious leaders of Myanmar, 14 March, Cardinal Charles Bo called on all parties to seek peace and help bring an end to the killing, violence, atrocities and imprisonment of innocent people.

The Easter Vigil, which takes place Holy Saturday night, “is the greatest and most noble of all solemnities and it is to be unique in every single Church,” the rubrics of the Missale Romanum proclaim.

After the Vatican’s doctrinal office clarified that the Catholic Church does not have the power to give liturgical blessings to homosexual unions, music icon Elton John criticized the Vatican in a post on Twitter.

Pope Francis has called for more support for working mothers during and after the coronavirus pandemic, saying that women are needed in the renewal of society and the economy.

Here is the full text of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s response to a question on the blessing of same-sex unions, followed by an accompanying commentary, issued 15 March 2021

The Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, António Cardinal dos Santos Marto, announced that the 2021 pilgrimage to Fatima will take place virtually due to existing restrictions in Portugal because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis urged the world not to forget the ongoing suffering of the “martyred” people of Syria on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the start of the Syrian war.

Pope Francis offered Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning to mark 500 years of the Catholic faith in the Philippines.

A new letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State has banned the private celebration of Masses at side altars in St. Peter’s Basilica, effective 22 March.

The European Union has declared itself an “LGBT freedom zone,” prompting objections from the Polish government, which says it has a right to maintain traditional views on marriage and family.

Bishop Paul Swarbrick has welcomed the Secretary of State for Local Government’s decision to hold a public inquiry into plans for the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years at Whitehaven, Cumbria.

Jersey has formed a citizens’ jury to determine whether assisted suicide should be allowed on the island.

Out of 477 people who applied to sit on the jury, 23 were “randomly selected to provide a broadly representative sample of the Island’, Channel 103 reported the government as saying.

Bishop Paul Swarbrick has written to Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, to express the solidarity of Catholics in England and Wales.

Christians will struggle to remain in the Holy Land without financial help from Catholics worldwide on Good Friday, a Vatican cardinal said yesterday.

In a letter issued 11 March, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri said that this year’s global collection was critical for Christians struggling to stay afloat following a collapse in pilgrimages caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis will officially designate Knock Shrine in Ireland as an international Marian and Eucharistic shrine on the feast of St. Joseph next week.

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference announced yesterday that the pope will give Knock Shrine official recognition and send a video message to the shrine on the night of 19 March.

Ireland’s Catholic bishops said on Thursday that a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide is “fundamentally flawed.”

Ireland’s Catholic bishops announced yesterday that they would hold a national synodal assembly “within the next five years.”

As the dust settles on Pope Francis’ remarkable four-day visit to Iraq – surely one of the most iconic of his pontificate, the attention swings to the analysis. How might this Apostolic Journey, the first of any Pope to the land of Abraham, shape the future?

The Vatican will mark the fifth anniversary of the publication of Amoris laetitia, Pope Francis’ 2016 exhortation on the family, with a live-streamed event on 19 March.

Pope Francis holds a general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, Oct 28, 2020. / Credit: Vatican Media Pope Francis said …