Categorized Under: World News
Francis OKs ‘Trans’ Baptisms, ‘Trans’ & Gay Godparents
In a new document issued by the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, Pope Francis is confirming that individuals who have undergone gender reassignment surgery may receive baptism under certain circumstances, in a seeming contradiction to earlier statements issued by multiple dioceses. The pontiff authorized responses published by Cdl. Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine for the Faith, to a series of six dubia (Latin for "doubts") regarding the participation of LGBT persons in the sacraments of baptism and marriage. Read more
Priest Who Abused His Own Daughters Gets Praise
The diocese of Málaga is eulogizing a priest who secretly fathered five children, abused three of his daughters and is facing accusations of sexual abuse from female students at a high school. Father Antonio Muñoz Rivero, honorary chaplain to Pope John Paul II, has received glowing tributes from diocesan authorities, despite an October report by an independent commission accusing Spanish clergy of abusing more than 200,000 minors since 1940. Read more
Vatican Denies Reports of Plans to Reform Conclave
Pope Francis' top cardinal canonist has blasted as "absolutely false" and a "pure lie" news reports alleging that reformation attempts are being made to include laymen in the conclave that will vote for the next pope. Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit expert in canon law to whom Pope Francis gave a red hat in August 2022, told multiple news outlets on Monday that he was not involved in reforming the process of selecting a future pope to make it more "synodal." Read more
Pope to Attend UN Climate Conference
Pope Francis is scheduled to attend the upcoming COP28 climate summit in Dubai from Dec. 1–3 while the U.S. bishops' conference continues to echo his call for climate activism. In a recent interview with Gian Marco Chiocci, the director of Italy's TG1 television channel, Pope Francis offered his views on the significance of this summit. He noted the upcoming summit serves as a critical juncture between the 2016 Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Read more
Pope Francis Affirms Holy Orders Reserved for Men
Pope Francis is continuing to uphold Church teaching on the topic of women's ordination. The Roman pontiff reaffirmed Catholic teaching on Holy Orders in an interview about a recently released book on the pastoral nature of his pontificate. In an interview for the book, Francis declared, "[H]oly orders is reserved for men" and the diaconate "is the first degree of holy orders in the Catholic Church, followed by the priesthood and finally the episcopate." Read more
Diocese Welcomes Celebrity Priest Who Abused Nuns
A Slovenian bishop has offered his episcopal patronage to a celebrity priest who has been accused of abusing over 25 nuns and who even engaged in a sexual threesome with two nuns in a so-called imitation the Holy Trinity. Monsignor Slavko Rebec confirmed to media on Wednesday that world-renowned mosaic artist Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik has been incardinated by vicar general Bp. Jurij Bizjak into the diocese of Koper in Rupnik's native Slovenia. Read more
Francis’ New Book Hails Islam as a ‘Religion of Peace’
In a new book that recounts the last ten years of his pontificate, Pope Francis is defending Islam as a "religion of peace" and suggesting the possibility of making celibacy optional for Latin rite priests. The 286-page book "Non Sei Solo: Sfide, Risposte, Speranze" (You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes), published in Italian and released Tuesday, is a series of dialogues with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. Read more
Bishop Quits After Clergy Homosexual Orgy Scandal
A Polish bishop has quit after a national scandal involving priests in a homosexual orgy that ended with a male prostitute suffering a heart attack from a Viagra overdose. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of 59-year-old Bp. Grzegorz Kaszak from the pastoral governance of the scandal-plagued Sosnowiec diocese, leading to speculation that the bishop was asked to resign. Read more
As the West Abandons Catholicism, One Continent Thrives
A Vatican news agency report is revealing how Africa's Catholic population surge is holding the Church together. Agenzia Fides, the Vatican's news agency and part of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, released its 2023 Catholic Church Statistics, which documents a decline in most areas of the Church outside of Africa. Read more
Remembering the Hungarian Revolutionaries of 1956
Hungarians all over the world are remembering the brave men and women who, in 1956, gave their lives and livelihoods to fight for freedom. Thousands of people marched in Budapest today, Oct. 23, in a torchlight procession commemorating the country's revolution and war of independence. They marched from the University of Technology to Bem Square, where the revolution began when Hungarians wrenched a nearly 23-foot statue of Joseph Stalin off its base. Read more
Priest Jailed for Sexually Abusing Minor Seminarian
A Spanish court has sentenced Fr. Pedro Francisco Rodríguez Ramos to seven years in prison for repeated sexual abuse of a seminarian in the Toledo archdiocese's minor seminary. In its sentence announced on Oct. 19, the provincial court of León also fined Fr. Ramos 40,000 euros for abusing the 14-year-old seminarian from 2005 and 2007 while the priest was spiritual director at the Santo Tomás Villanueva minor seminary in Toledo. Read more
Bp. Álvarez, Abortionist Both Finalists for Human Rights Award
Nicaraga's Bp. Rolando Álvarez and Planned Parenthood's Colleen McNicholas are among the finalists for the European Union's top human rights award. The European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will be awarded Thursday to one of three finalists from around the world. Read more
Far-Left UK Party Seeks Imprisonment of ‘Transphobes’
The United Kingdom's far-left Labour Party is reportedly promising stricter punishments for individuals opposing trans ideology. Daily Mail reported over the weekend that the political party is promising — if elected — to have "misgendering" labeled an "aggravated offense," a crime that could lead to prison time. Read more
Predator Prelate Remains in Control of 9 Charities
An Australian bishop who is accused of sexually abusing and grooming 71 young aboriginal males remains in control of nine charities in his former diocese, one of which has a revenue of at least $1 million. A 200-page secret report cited witnesses describing Bp. Christopher Saunders as "a sexual predator" who sought "to prey upon vulnerable aboriginal men and boys" and groomed his victims, plying them with cash, alcohol, hotels, phones, phone credit and air and bus travel. Read more
Israel Condemns Vatican Response to Hamas Pogrom
Israel's foreign minister is blasting the Holy See for drawing a moral equivalence between Hamas' massacre of Jewish civilians and Israel's military response in Gaza that's aimed at rescuing hostages and eliminating terrorists. After a conversation with Abp. Paul Gallagher, the Vatican secretary for relations with states, Israel's minister of foreign affairs, Eli Cohen, stated that "there is no room for unfounded comparisons," according to a press release from Israel's foreign ministry on Sunday. Read more
