Australia: Archbishop begins home detention over sex abuse cover-up

A former Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse, was spared jail on Tuesday when he was ordered to serve his one-year sentence at home. Newcastle Court Magistrate Robert Stone allowed Philip Wilson, 67, to serve his detention at home after an assessment by prison authorities […]

Pope recognises ‘decisive’ measures against abuse by Chile’s bishops

Pope Francis recognised on Monday measures that Chile’s bishops said they would take to assist prosecutors investigating allegations of sex abuse that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, including that they would work to reach an agreement with prosecutors on an exchange of information. The pontiff wrote in a letter released to media […]

Vatican changes teaching to oppose death penalty in all cases

The Roman Catholic Church formally changed its teaching on Thursday to declare the death penalty inadmissible whatever the circumstance, a move likely to be criticised in countries where capital punishment is legal. The 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church had for centuries allowed the death penalty in extreme cases, but the position began to change under Pope […]

Chilean prosecutor forces Catholic Church to give up secrets

Two special envoys sent by Pope Francis to investigate a child sex abuse scandal in Chile were meeting priests and church workers at a university in the Chilean capital last month when aides rushed into the room with an alarming development: police and prosecutors were about to start raiding church offices. The envoys were 90 […]

A new national Catholic-Muslim dialogue hopes to counter Islamophobia in the United States

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops hopes that a national dialogue with Muslims can change perceptions of Islam in the United States. In the past, efforts to foster Catholic-Muslim have succeeded at local levels. But in the face of rising Islamophobia, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, of Springfield in Massachusetts, who chairs the committee, said a wider conversation was needed. “As the national conversation around Islam grows increasingly fraught, coarse and driven by fear and often willful misinformation, the Catholic Church must help to model real dialogue and good will,” he said in a statement. This national dialogue will begin at the start of 2017. In the Midwest, Catholic-Muslim dialogue began in 1996 and meets once a year. The co-chairs represent both faiths. One document produced explored how Muslims and Catholics interpret revelation. In the Mid-Atlanic, a representative from The Islamic Circle of North America co-chairs the yearly meetings that started in 1998. Out in California, a number of Islamic Societies join the yearly dialogue which began in 1999. They co-published Friends and Not Adversaries: A Catholic-Muslim Spiritual Journey in 2003. A 2014 directive reaffirmed a commitment to Catholic-Muslim dialogue. How Catholics view other faiths changed following the Second Vatican Council. [...]

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Why is Junípero Serra’s canonisation so controversial?

Over the summer, Pope Francis apologised for the “Many grave sins were committed against the native people of America in the name of God.” “I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America,” the pope said. But his decision to canonise Father Junípero Serra, on his first visit to the United States next week, has angered many groups. An online petition against the canonisation has gained over 10,000 signatures. Many of the counter voices are descendants of those colonised. For Ron Andrade, executive director of the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, and of the Luiseño tribe, said Serra “decimated 90% of the Indian population”. Serra (1713-1784), was an ordained Franciscan priest and professor of theology by the age of 24. By 1749, Serra accompanied other Franciscans dedicated to missionary work in Mexico. He also preached, heard confessions, and assisted at Mexico City’s College of San Fernando. In 1767, Spain founded the first mission in California. Estimates put the Native American population at about 310,000; yet in under a century, that figure declined at a rapid rate, alongside cultural shifts. Spain’s [...]

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Meet the last Catholic priest in Antarctica

For more than 50 years, Catholic priests from New Zealand have sailed thousands of miles to the frozen desolation of the Antarctic. The US National Science Foundation invites New Zealand’s Catholic Church for the summer months. A select number of priests work at the whimiscally-titled Chapel of the Snows, at the US McMurdo Station on Ross Island. They provide the spiritual succour to research staff and scientists. But budget cuts and reduced religiosity among staff means the New Zealand diocese ends its tenure in the Antarctic. A military chaplaincy will continue to offer spiritual care and inter-denominational services. Father Dan Doyle, co-ordinator of the Catholic Church in Antarctica, told the Catholic Herald: “Before this digital age people felt very isolated and lonely; they were always under so much pressure, so I did a lot of counselling and peer support”. Email and Skype later replaced a 2-minute call on a ham-radio once a month. At peak summertime, Doyle (and four other priests) assisted up to 2,000 people. That number dropped to 1,200 in a decade. In the harsh winter months, the population drops to just 150 essential personnel. Every few weeks, they travelled 1,360km (845 miles)  to the southernmost inhabited place [...]

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