Categorized Under: World News
Finnish Politician Acquitted in High-Profile Free Speech Case
In a decision that has resonated across Europe, a court has acquitted a prominent politician of hate speech charges centering around biblical quotes and homosexuality. Päivi Räsänen, a former interior minister in the Finnish Parliament, faced accusations over her statements on homosexuality based on Scripture. Her comments sparked international debate over the balance between freedom of expression and hate speech laws. Read more
Italian Bishops’ Report Reveals Clergy Abuse of Girls
The overwhelming majority of victims of clerical sex abuse in 2022 were girls between the ages of 15 and 18, a report from the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) has revealed. The report, titled "Protect, Prevent, Train: On the Territorial Network for Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults," which was released on Thursday, identified 25 of 54 victims of clergy sex abuse as post-pubescent minor females from 186 dioceses. Read more
Francis Puts Pro-Tradition Bishop on Tight Leash
In a move that some argue is designed to impede an incumbent's episcopal autonomy, Pope Francis will appoint a coadjutor bishop to the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon to monitor pro-traditionalist Bp. Dominique Rey. The 58-year-old Bp. François Touvet, currently bishop of Châlons in Champagne, will work alongside 71-year-old Bp. Rey and succeed him when Rey retires in the next four years, Le Figaro reported on Thursday. Read more
Rome’s Doctrine Czar Confirms Ban on Freemasonry
Catholics are forbidden from membership in Masonic lodges "because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry," the Vatican's doctrine watchdog has confirmed. In a statement published Monday responding to a question from Msgr. Julito Cortes, bishop of Dumaguete, Philippines, Cdl. Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterated the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons. Read more
Catholic Charity Bigwig Announces ‘Act of Apostasy’
A top Polish charity worker and theologian has submitted an "act of apostasy" and announced that he is leaving Catholicism to escape from "heinous crimes" like "abuse of minors and the pretense that it does not exist in the church." Slamming the institutional Church as a "mafia" guilty of "sheltering criminals," Sebastian Wiśniewski, deputy director of Caritas in Białystok, said the decision was "the result of years of work and observations in Caritas and almost 50 years as a Catholic." Read more
‘America’s Bishop’ No Longer Ordinary of Tyler, Texas
Pope Francis has removed a Texas bishop from his office, a move shocking many in the Church. The move was announced Saturday in the Holy See's daily bulletin after Francis yesterday reportedly met with Cdl. Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops. Read more
Nigerian Christians Still Being Persecuted
A new report is again trying to focus the public's attention on the extreme level of persecution Christians are undergoing throughout the world. International Christian Concern, headquartered in Washington, D.C., published its new report this month detailing the suffering of hundreds of millions of Christians in the most heavily persecuted countries in the world. Read more
Pope Francis Ruled Against ‘Trans’ Godparents in 2015
Acting under Pope Francis' direction in 2015, the Vatican's doctrine watchdog ruled against transsexuals serving as godparents for baptisms, stating that people who identify as transgender "cannot be admitted to the position of either godmother or godfather." Catholic LGBT activists are hailing the latest decree published Wednesday by the same Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Pope Francis for seemingly reversing the ban on transgender individuals becoming godparents at a Catholic baptism. Read more
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
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