A new proposal in Quebec reignites the battle over where secularism ends and religious freedom begins.
Tag: catholic church
A diocese in the UK found that many people lacked the confidence and faith to walk into a conventional church — so it decided to take the church to wherever people were.
With the arrival of the new Pope, can we expect a new stance from the Catholic Church on the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people?
From Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin to Italian Prime Minister Meloni and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, intense maneuverings are underway to see if the peace process can be relaunched in Rome. There are both religious and judicial hurdles to overcome.
Italian novelist Viola Ardone reflects on childhood dreams, institutional patriarchy, and why the Catholic Church still silences women as 133 cardinals gather to elect the next pope.
As the conclave approaches, Vatican intrigue intensifies, with Italian ambitions, global rivalries and conservative strategy shaping the next papal election.
Pope Francis had a remarkable impact on the Vatican. In Poland, the last Catholic stronghold of Europe, Francis took action, forcing high-ranking officials in the Church to resign, and dismissing some altogether. For Poland, a country still reckoning with the impacts of Pope John Paul II, both positive and negative, Francis’s papacy held particular weight.
Pope Francis had a profound impact on Africans. A visit with people in Gabon paying tribute to him, hailing a humble man, close to the marginalized, who knew how to speak to Africa from the heart. Could his successor be from nearby?
The Argentine-born pontiff appeared equal parts combative and caring, and apt to share parts of papal life long held secret by his predecessors. A look back on a of a pope who was more like you and me than bishops of Rome are thought to be — and who seemed to be just fine with it all.
In life and in death, Francis has been praised as a reformer, even if he basically left the Church structurally untouched. His image was shaped more by clever media strategy than genuine change.
By most accounts, Pope Francis was close to death in his recent illness, before recovering. He said the experience was “brutto” bad. Just what did he mean by that? Should death be faced with obedience or resistance? Should we cling to life or welcome what comes next? Reflections from an Italian theologian.
In an exclusive for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, a bishop speaks to the journalist about why he offered money to a former altar boy who claimed to have been abused by a Catholic priest in the city of Bydgoszcz in Poland.
Led by young artists like Varsha and Sherin, Christian rap in India is emerging as a powerful genre used both for worship and protest. Gospel hip-hop, as it is also called, is gaining traction through social media and carving its own space in India’s spiritual and musical landscape.
One-third of young Polish women don’t go to the gynecologist from fear of being judged. Catholic Polish doctors often refuse to prescribe birth control, openly make references to their religion, make judgmental remarks about their patients, and, in the worst cases, deny women life-saving care because of Poland’s draconian abortion laws.
A legendary driver, a tech milestone, and the end of a beloved comic era.
Although science and research dominate our lives, many people continue to believe in miracles. There are understandable reasons for this.
A landmark decision last year by the Mexican Supreme Court is part of a push in Latin America to expand abortion access. But as seen by the U.S. overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 and the presidential election in November of this year the issue is moving in different directions around the world.
Updated Oct. 10, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council on this day in 1962. What was Pope John XXIII’s significance in the Roman Catholic Church’s history? Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was the 261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, serving from 1958 until his death in […]
Retirement homes in Germany are increasingly improving their levels of care for queer residents – yes, even the Catholic ones.
Only a select few reside behind the walls — and even fewer women. From strict rules to unique traditions, is life inside this “man’s world” worth the sacrifice?
Updated Aug. 26, 2024 at 11:20 am Mother Teresa was born on this day in 1910. Who was Mother Theresa? Mother Teresa, born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje (now North Macedonia), was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation that provided care and assistance to […]
Updated March 13, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. Pope Francis was elected on this day in 2013, becoming the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. What are Pope Francis stands? He is known for his progressive views on social and economic issues, as well as his efforts to promote […]
Poland remains one of the last strongholds of Catholicism in Europe, and one of the few countries to have a concordat with the Holy See in its constitution. Until now, the conservative Law and Justice Government has maintained close ties to the religion. With a new opposition government, and religious practice trending towards decline, many wonder if Poland will become a secular state for the first time since the fall of Communism.
It is not only the health of the Pope that worries the Holy See. From the collapse of vocations to the conservative wind in the USA, there are many ills to face.
Majority-Catholic Poland has some of the strictest defamation laws of any democratic country, which includes laws defaming the Catholic Church. For many artists, this has meant years of legal trouble, including threats of jail time.
The synod had promised to bring forth revolutionary ides for both members of the LGBTQ and women within the Church. But looking at the first session’s conclusion reveals that hopes for change may have come too early.
Poland’s powerful Catholic Church is facing yet another crisis: following an exodus of parishioners, notably among younger Poles, now priests are leaving the clergy too.
In this editorial for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, former Polish Senator, Solidarność activist, Member of Parliament, and Environmental Minister Antoni Tokarczuk examines what he calls the “true motivations” of ruling party Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński, and warns against his use of the Church for his party’s gain, especially ahead of the upcoming Parliamentary elections.
Polish Judge Joanna Knobel has became the victim of a hate mail campaign targeting, among other things, her Jewish background. With new threats being sent to other judges in recent weeks, the country is faced with a dangerous deepening of the divide that puts the institution of a free judiciary.
Tadeusz Rydzyk, Poland’s “father director,” has commanded enormous political power through his Catholic media empire, despite his controversial support for priests entangled in the church’s child sexual abuse scandals — as well as support for Russia. Is his era finally coming to an end?
The Vatican may soon canonize the Mama Antula, an Argentine woman who started a spiritual movement at a time when religious intellectualism was strictly the domain the men.
Two decades after the U.S. Catholic Church finally began to confront priest abuse of minors, and many other countries followed suit, Italian bishops who live with the Vatican in their midst are reluctant to break the church’s vow of silence and answer to victims.
Poland’s legislature is in the process of passing new “blasphemy” restrictions that would impose jail sentences for denigrating the Catholic Church, Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported Monday. Parliament’s lower house has approved an amendment that—if passed into law—would impose “a fine, a penalty of restriction of liberty, or imprisonment up to two years,” on anyone […]
Seven months after Russia’s invasion, the Pope finally called on Vladimir Putin directly to stop the war. But just days earlier, Francis had offered an elaborate theory on the causes of the war, which he blamed on competing “imperialisms” of Russia and the West, and the need to have wars to sell weapons.
The Pope is being urged to “go to Kyiv,” and name Putin as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine. If he did so, the pontiff would renounce his own religious charisma, and ultimately sap him of his unique role and power as the ultimate messenger of peace.
Patriarch Kirill I has offered Putin a religious justification for his invasion of Ukraine, while Pope Francis stands firmly with the Ukrainian people. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church is a close ally of Putin’s, and has surprising links to the KGB.
When the author’s father died suddenly two years ago in Colombia, the Catholic Church mourning rituals offered little comfort. Two weeks ago, by chance in Mexico City for the annual Día De Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations, she discovered how these ancient rituals for the departed could finally help her face the pain, and find true peace.
After Ireland, another once Catholic stronghold in Europe is challenging a longstanding law that makes abortion a crime, for both women and doctors.
Holger Allmenroeder is a Catholic priest who is also openly gay. He supports gay and lesbian people, divorcees and those who have remarried. Traditionalists may find him alienating but his masses are well attended. Is he the future of the Church?