What’s the most common transgression people feel guilty about? Sex, of course. Now, in a controversial new French book, Catholic clergymen unveil some surprising intimate details
Name: Confession.
Age: 1,000 years old.
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Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Sistani call for unity at Iraq meeting
Catholic and Shia leaders strengthen dialogue between their faiths on first ever papal visit to the country
Two of the most influential faith leaders in the world reached across a religious divide on Saturday to promote peace and unity in a historic meeting.
Pope Francis, 84, the head of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, the spiritual leader of most of the world’s Shia Muslims, talked for almost an hour during the first ever papal visit to Iraq, the pontiff’s first trip abroad since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Former pope Benedict says ‘fanatical’ Catholics still won’t believe he’s not the pope
Pope emeritus says some who are unhappy with successor Pope Francis have refused to believe he willingly stepped down
Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign, calling them “fanatical” and reminding them there is only one pope and it is Francis.
Benedict, now 93, became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member church.
Continue reading...First papal visit to Iraq to go ahead despite Covid and terrorism concerns
Visit from Pope Francis will start in Baghdad on Friday and is his first trip abroad in 15 months
Despite the twin threats of Covid-19 and terrorism, the first ever papal visit to Iraq is due to begin on Friday, during which Francis will meet beleaguered Christian communities and one of the world’s most influential Muslim leaders.
For 84-year-old Pope Francis, it will be his first trip abroad for 15 months as the pandemic has curtailed his movements. New Covid restrictions came into effect in Iraq last week, with overnight curfews and a full three-day lockdown at weekends, as daily recorded cases doubled in less than a week.
Continue reading...Pope Francis expects to remain pontiff until his death
In a new book, Francis says he expects to die in Rome, not his native Argentina, either as ‘active or emeritus’ pope
Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pontiff, without returning to spend his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled The Health of Popes.
In an interview granted to Argentinian journalist and physician Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope said he thinks about death, but does not fear it.
Continue reading...Europe’s oldest person survives Covid and set to celebrate 117th birthday
French nun Sister Andrée tested positive in her retirement home in Toulon but had no symptoms
A French nun who is Europe’s oldest person has recovered from Covid-19 after it swept through a nursing home in the south of France, and will celebrate her 117th birthday this week.
Sister Andrée, born Lucile Randon in 1904, tested positive for the coronavirus last month at the Sainte-Catherine Labouré home near Toulon where 81 of the 88 residents contracted the virus – 10 of whom died.
Continue reading...‘A door has opened’: Pope Francis appoints first woman to senior synod post
France’s Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of synod of bishops, is first woman to hold the rank which gives voting rights
Breaking with tradition, Pope Francis has appointed Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first woman to hold the post and have voting rights.
The 52-year-old is one of the two new undersecretaries named to the synod, the body of bishops that studies major questions of doctrine and where she has been a consultant since 2019.
Continue reading...‘Is it OK to eat during online mass?’: how the faithful handle lockdown
From streamed baptisms to the impossibility of hajj, it’s been a tricky time for religious people to stay observant. But many have some holy hacks
Well before places of worship were closed during the first lockdown, we hectored my father to remain indoors and stay safe. He rebelled. One frigid Sunday last March, through the silence of a sleeping household, he slunk down the hall and to the kitchen, careful not to rouse his house guests.
We don’t know if his plan was dependent on my siblings being hungover but, since this was the case, it worked a charm. A little after 9am, they were stirred from sleep by the tell-tale crunch of gravel as he spun slowly away to his local church. His intention: to defy the orders of his slovenly children and go to mass amid the coughs and handshakes of his fellow parishioners. We had witnessed one of the more unexpected struggles of lockdown life – the strange, rebellious instincts of God-fearing society, and the paradox of coming together in His name at a time when you must remain apart.
Continue reading...Jesuit order in Spain apologises for decades of sexual abuse by members
Society of Jesus admits 81 children and 21 adults were sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927
The Jesuit order in Spain has admitted that 81 children and 21 adults have been sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927, and has apologised for the “painful, shameful and sorrowful” crimes.
In a report released on Thursday, the Society of Jesus, whose members often work as teachers, said most of the abuse had taken place in schools “or was related to schools”.
Continue reading...Pope’s adviser says Covid has highlighted ‘existential’ climate risk
Focus must be on justice for those fleeing impact of extreme weather events, says new scientific adviser to Vatican
The pope’s newly appointed scientific adviser said the coronavirus pandemic has forced world leaders to face up to the “existential risk” of the climate crisis.
Prof Ottmar Edenhofer said rich countries now had a moral duty to compensate poor countries already suffering the impacts.
Continue reading...Pope condemns travelling abroad to escape coronavirus lockdowns
Pontiff uses video address to urge public to ‘take care of each other’
Pope Francis has condemned people who had gone abroad on holiday to escape coronavirus lockdowns, saying they needed to show greater awareness of the suffering of others.
Speaking after his weekly noon blessing, Francis said he had read newspaper reports of people catching flights to flee government curbs and seek fun elsewhere.
Continue reading...Irish state broadcaster apologises over TV comedy depicting God as rapist
RTÉ New Year’s Eve show included mock news report about God implicated in sexual harassment case
Ireland’s state broadcaster, RTÉ, has apologised after an outcry over a television comedy sketch that depicted God as a rapist.
A countdown show on New Year’s Eve included a mock news report about God being the latest prominent figure implicated in a sexual harassment scandal.
Continue reading...Western Isles council rejects official sex ed in favour of Catholic teaching
Vote came after ministers on Lewis said parents and teachers unhappy about government-backed materials
The Western Isles has been hit by a fresh row over the influence of churches on public policy after councillors voted to endorse a Catholic manual on teaching sex education and relationships in schools.
A large majority of councillors on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) backed a motion “commending” Roman Catholic teaching materials, which uphold an orthodox Catholic stance against sexual intercourse outside heterosexual marriage.
Continue reading...Coronavirus global report: Christmas curtailed as UK arrivals face tougher measures
Pope addresses fewer than 200 people in St Peter’s; China and US take action against UK amid concerns about new variant; South Korea reports daily case record
- Staff at UK coronavirus testing lab hit by outbreak
- Johnson refuses to rule out national lockdown as UK death toll rises by 574
- Trump claims to be ‘working tirelessly’ but leaves Covid relief in disarray
The coronavirus pandemic cast a pall over Christmas celebrations worldwide, with the pope holding a reduced St Peter’s mass, and further restrictions imposed on arrivals from the UK and South Africa amid concerns about potentially more transmissible variants of the virus.
China said it would halt UK flight arrivals indefinitely, deciding to follow the example of dozens of countries that introduced bans this week following the emergence of a new mutation in the virus. There are currently eight weekly flights between mainland China and Britain, including two by British Airways.
Continue reading...George Pell says ‘some evidence but no proof’ Vatican officials conspired to ‘destroy’ him
Comments to Italian media are the strongest cardinal has made alleging abuse charges may be linked to Vatican corruption investigation
Cardinal George Pell has told an Italian current affairs program that there is “some evidence but no proof” that figures within the Vatican conspired to “destroy” him, the strongest comments he has made to date that allege the charges against him may be linked to Vatican corruption.
Pell claimed all senior figures within the Vatican who had taken charge of reforming the finances of the Holy See “with very few exceptions, has been attacked by the media on the level of reputation in one way or another”.
Continue reading...George Pell says he feels vindicated for trying to uncover alleged financial ‘criminality’ at Vatican
Cardinal says in first interview since return to Rome he didn’t know extent of wrongdoing and ‘it would be better for the church if these things hadn’t happened’
Australia’s highest ranking Catholic cleric and the pope’s former treasurer, Cardinal George Pell, has said he feels a dismayed sense of vindication as the financial mismanagement he tried to uncover in the Holy See is now being exposed in a spiralling Vatican corruption investigation.
Pell made the comments to the Associated Press in his first interview since returning to Rome after his conviction-turned-acquittal on sexual abuse charges in Australia. Pell said he knew in 2014 when he took the treasury job that the Holy See’s finances were “a bit of a mess”.
Continue reading...Pope says for first time that China’s Uighurs are ‘persecuted’
Francis mentions plight of Muslim minority in China, alongside Rohingya and Yazidi, in new book
Pope Francis has for the first time called China’s Muslim Uighurs a “persecuted” people, something human rights activists have been urging him to do for years.
In the wide-ranging book Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better Future, he said: “I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi” in a section where he also talks about persecuted Christians in Islamic countries.
Continue reading...Child sexual abuse in Catholic church was ‘swept under the carpet’, inquiry finds
Damning report says church put its reputation above the welfare of abuse victims
The Catholic church “betrayed” its moral purpose by prioritising its reputation over the welfare of children who had been sexually abused by priests, a damning inquiry report has concluded.
In its final review of the church, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) was scathing in its criticism of the leadership of Cardinal Vincent Nichols and says the Vatican’s failure to cooperate with the investigation “passes understanding”.
Continue reading...Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden’s faith will shape his presidency
President-elect of the US says his belief in equality is rooted in his ‘cultural Catholicism’
He carries a rosary in his pocket, one that belonged to his dead son, Beau. On election day last Tuesday, he went to mass, as he does every Sunday.
In his victory speech on Saturday night, he quoted from Ecclesiastes: “The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season – a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America.”
Continue reading...The Guardian view on Johnson’s Biden problem: not going away | Editorial
Britain risks isolation as the president-elect prioritises relations with the EU. The government must understand the signs of the new times
The Irish question has played havoc with the best-laid plans of hardline Brexiters. Since 2016, successive Conservative governments have struggled to square the circle of keeping the United Kingdom intact, while avoiding the reimposition of a hard border on the island of Ireland. The border issue has been the achilles heel of Brexit, the thorn in the side of true believers in a “clean break” with the EU. So the prospect of an Irish-American politician on his way to the White House, just as Boris Johnson attempts to finagle his way round the problem, is an 11th-hour plot twist to savour.
Joe Biden’s views on Brexit are well known. The president-elect judges it to be a damaging act of self-isolation; strategically unwise for Britain and unhelpful to American interests in Europe. But it is the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU on Ireland that concerns Mr Biden most. This autumn, he was forthright on the subject of the government’s controversial internal market bill, which was again debated on Monday in the House of Lords. The proposed legislation effectively reneges on a legally binding protocol signed with the EU, which would impose customs checks on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland. In doing so, it summons up the spectre of a hard border on the island of Ireland, undermining the Good Friday agreement. Mr Biden is adamant that the GFA must not “become a casualty of Brexit”. He is expected to convey that message, in forceful terms, when his first telephone conversation with Mr Johnson eventually takes place.
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