Catholicism
Maurizio Cattelan, Zoe Saldana join iconoclastic Vatican Biennale exhibition inside women’s prison
By Colleen Barry — April 19, 2024
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis, who met with over 200 artists in the Sistine Chapel last year, will see the mural for himself when he visits the pavilion April 28.
Animal cruelty officer-turned-animal chaplain Matty Giuliano loves ferrets and St. Francis
By Kathryn Post — April 18, 2024
EATONTOWN, N.J. (RNS) — ‘I know there are plenty of people out there who believe animals have no souls,’ said Giuliano. ‘And I cannot accept one of God’s creation is, spiritually, the equivalent of a cup of ice cream.’
What happens when most of the Catholic churches in Baltimore close?
By Mark Silk — April 18, 2024
(RNS) — The loss to local communities is likely to be substantial.
The perils and necessities of saying ‘I don’t know’
By Thomas Reese — April 15, 2024
(RNS) — In political, academic and ecclesial life, expressing uncertainty is the equivalent of committing professional suicide.
Pope Francis sides with Peruvian villagers who accused Catholic group of trying to steal their land
By Gabriela Molina — April 15, 2024
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — On Saturday, Francis urged the Catacaos villagers to persist in their efforts to defend the land, where they raise cattle and produce honey.
Unfazed by danger and power, Guatemalan cardinal keeps up fight for migrants and the poor
By Giovanna Dell'orto — April 15, 2024
HUEHUETENANGO, Guatemala (AP) — Elevated by Pope Francis to the top hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini has continued his unflinching focus on the poor, the Indigenous and the migrant.
Vatican complains after French court rules in favor of nun dismissed from religious order
By Nicole Winfield — April 15, 2024
ROME (AP) — The case is highly unusual, because it represented a secular civilian court essentially determining that the Vatican’s in-house canonical procedures grossly violated the nun’s fundamental rights.
Vatican document on gender theory, surrogacy puzzles critics and advocates
By Claire Giangravé — April 15, 2024
(RNS) — Experts question whether the pope will leave hot-button issues for his successor to decide or if he is paving the way for doctrinal reform.
An Episcopal seminary found a solution to its fiscal woes. Then 7 bishops intervened.
By Bob Smietana — April 12, 2024
(RNS) — A group of seven New York-area bishops have objected to a long-term lease for General Episcopal Seminary, saying the lessee, a Catholic school, has a donor that does not support rights for gay, transgender and queer people.
Chaldean patriarch returns to Baghdad after nine months of self-imposed exile amid political dispute
By Abby Sewell and Ali Jabar — April 12, 2024
BAGHDAD (AP) —Cardinal Louis Sako was welcomed warmly by a church packed with members of the country’s Christian minority as he led his first mass in Baghdad on Friday after returning the day before.
US Catholics more polarized than ever about still-popular Pope Francis, survey says
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain — April 12, 2024
(RNS) — The Republican and Republican-leaning favorability rating represents a decline, creating the largest partisan gap in approval of Francis since his papacy began.
Experts call for Vatican judicial reforms to promote transparency and a fair trial
By Claire Giangravé — April 11, 2024
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Speakers at the conference said the institution still has a lot to do to better inform victims during canonical trials.
Documentary portrays asylum-seeking family helped by a Seattle synagogue
By Yonat Shimron — April 11, 2024
(RNS) — ‘All We Carry’ follows a Honduran couple and their son as they make their way from Mexico to Seattle, where they settle for three years until an immigration court hears their asylum claim.
Trump assails Jewish voters who back Biden: ‘Should have their head examined’
By Bill Barrow — April 11, 2024
ATLANTA (AP) — The Gaza conflict has sandwiched Biden between conservatives – both Christian and Jewish – who want stalwart support for Netanyahu’s government, and progressives.
Brazil’s Yanomami leader asks the Pope to support President Lula in reversing damage to the Amazon
By Nicole Winfield — April 11, 2024
VATICAN CITY (AP) — History’s first Latin American pope has made caring for the environment, especially the Amazon, a hallmark of his papacy.
