Pope Francis arrives in the West Bank on day two of his three-day visit to the Middle East. The pontiff meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and makes a controversial and dramatic gesture by praying at the separation wall. He holds Mass in Bethlehem and invites both the presidents of Palestine and Israel to the Vatican to pray for peace in the region Continue reading... ...
Experts reject argument that Vatican only exercises control over city state and is not accountable for priests' actions worldwide The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has criticised the Vatican's handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal, urging the Catholic church to do more to punish perpetrators, help victims and place "meaningful sanctions" on clerics who fail to deal properly...
As Pius XII's canonisation is considered, Nazi hunters want to see files on alleged links between Vatican and war criminals The pope's visit to Jerusalem this weekend has given fresh hope to campaigners some of whom are close friends of the pontiff who believe that he might use the occasion to open the Vatican's secret Holocaust-era files. Among them is Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi hunter of the Simon...
Vatican body attributes rise to keener vigilance prompted by reforms at scandal-ridden Institute for Works of Religion The number of reports of suspicious financial transactions at the Vatican leapt to 202 in 2013 from six the previous year, its Financial Information Authority (AIF) said on Monday, attributing the rise to keener vigilance prompted by reforms at the scandal-ridden Vatican bank. Since...
UN committee against torture told that 848 priests have been defrocked and 2,572 given lesser sanctions in past decade The Vatican has released comprehensive statistics for the first time on how it has disciplined priests accused of raping and molesting children, saying 848 priests have been defrocked and another 2,572 given lesser sanctions over the past decade. The Vatican's UN ambassador in Geneva,...
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi gives a defensive statement on the Vatican's response to clerical sex abuse after a delegation from the Holy See was grilled for two hours by the UN committee against torture. The delegation faced a barrage of questions about past policy decisions, the juridical distinction between the Holy See and Vatican City and information on specific cases Continue reading... ...
Pontiff criticises 'profiteers and climbers' within Catholic church as he begins overhaul of scandal-hit Vatican bureaucracy Pope Francis has condemned "profiteers" and "climbers" who use the Catholic church for financial gain as he embarks on Vatican reforms aimed at promoting greater transparency and doing more to help the needy. "There are climbers in the church. There are...
Torture committee dismisses Holy See's argument that its obligation to enforce UN treaty stops at boundaries of city state The Vatican has been given another hostile interrogation by a United Nations committee over its record on clerical sex abuse. One member after another of the committee against torture brushed aside the Holy See's argument that its obligation to enforce the UN convention against...
Vatican accuses 'ideological' NGOs of putting pressure on UN as delegates face likely questioning on sex abuse and abortion The leadership of the Roman Catholic church faces a fresh grilling by UN human rights observers on Monday as a delegation from the Holy See makes its debut appearance before the Committee Against Torture (CAT) in Geneva. Three months after the Vatican railed against the highly...
So former popes John XXIII and John Paul II are saints for their 'miracles'. At such times I sympathise with intelligent Catholics Two new saints were declared at the weekend. Amid euphoric scenes in Vatican Square, Pope Francis defied his modernisation drive by canonising two of his recent predecessors . The world's press indulged the occasion as one of universal joy. Even if they did regard it as...
Pope Francis proclaimed his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints in front of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and dignitaries at the Vatican Continue reading... ...
Pilgrims from across the Catholic church's political spectrum crowd into St Peter's Square for the 'day of the four popes' In the grey light of the early morning, as hordes of pilgrims made their slow progress towards St Peter's Square, Giuseppe Cannella stood to take a photograph of his daughter. His family had been waiting since 4am to take their places at the canonisation of popes John XXIII and...
Thousands of people gather at the Vatican for the canonisation of two Popes Emeritus, John Paul II and John XXIII. Pope Benedict leads the unprecedented mass in which his two predecessors are declared saints of the Roman Catholic church. Foreign leaders including Robert Mugabe and Enda Kenny were present for the service Continue reading... ...
Hundreds of thousands gather at Rome to witness canonisation of two great figures of 20th-century Roman Catholicism Pope Francis has declared two of his predecessors, John Paul II and John XXIII, saints of the Roman Catholic church in an unprecedented double-canonisation mass in St Peter's Square. Continue reading... ...
Hundreds of thousands expected to flood Rome for canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII on Sunday Rome is preparing to welcome up to a million international pilgrims over the weekend foR the unprecedented double canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII , two of the Catholic church's most significant 20th century figures. There will be a mass in St Peter's Square on Sunday at which...
Oh dear! Today's front page story in the Sunday Times about a British professor leading a crusade against human trafficking was, to say the least, infelicitous: "Grandmother, 71, tackles slave traffickers for the Pope" Continue reading... ...
Under previous pontiffs the ceremony was restricted to men, but Francis has become the first pope to include females Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 disabled people several of them women and one a Muslim man as he brought his inclusive touch to a Maundy Thursday rite restricted to men under previous pontiffs. At the Don Gnocchi centre in Rome, the Argentinian kept to his ground-breaking...
Police from around the world and religious leaders pledge to work together and to fight against human trafficking Pope Francis has described human trafficking as "a crime against humanity" as international police chiefs and religious figures pledged in the Vatican to work together to fight modern-day slavery. At the end of a two-day meeting, organised by the bishops' conference of England...
President Nicolás Maduro's government asks Cardinal Pietro Parolin to be 'witness in good faith' to talks on ending conflict Venezuela has formally invited the Vatican's secretary of state to be a "witness in good faith" to talks on ending two months of deadly anti-government protests there. In a letter on Wednesday, President Nicolás Maduro 's government asked Cardinal Pietro Parolin,...
The Vatican's reluctance to confront those accused of murder in its midst is rooted in its refusal to face up to the church's complicity in the events of 1994 There is a Roman Catholic priest at a medieval church an hour's drive from Paris who has been indicted by a United Nations court for genocide, extermination, murder and rape in Rwanda. Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka was notorious during the 1994...