Ex-archbishop of Washington DC is most senior figure to be removed from priesthood in modern times
A former Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal has been dismissed from the priesthood after the Vatican found him guilty of sexually abusing minors in a sign of an increasingly hardline stance taken by the church.
Related: Vatican envoy faces inquiry into sexual assault claims
Continue reading...French journalist’s book is a ‘startling account of corruption and hypocrisy’, publisher says
Some of the most senior clerics in the Roman Catholic church who have vociferously attacked homosexuality are themselves gay, according to a book to be published next week.
Eighty per cent of priests working at the Vatican are gay, although not necessarily sexually active, it is claimed in the book, In the Closet of the Vatican.
Continue reading...An estimated 170,000 Catholics visited the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi for a historic mass with Pope Francis
Continue reading...Show of public Christian worship considered largest ever seen on the Arabian peninsula
Marivic Sorita’s eyes filled with tears as she spoke of her daughters back in the Philippines. She has seen them only three times in the 11 years she has worked as a housemaid in Abu Dhabi. Her eldest, now 21, had recently completed her studies “thanks to the sacrifice” Sorita has made by the separation, sending almost all her salary back home.
Maybe one day, when her 14-year-old daughter has also finished her studies, Sorita will be able to go back to Manila and be reunited with her family. But for now, she was enjoying a rare day off work for what she described as a “very, very special” occasion.
Continue reading...Almost one-third in UK see rift, finds survey ahead of pope’s visit to Arabian peninsula
Large numbers of people in Christian-majority countries in the west see a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of their nation, according to a survey.
However, significantly fewer people in the Middle East and North Africa view Christianity in the same way.
Continue reading...Pope Francis’s visit to the United Arab Emirates this week will be greeted enthusiastically. Some 120,000 people are expected to turn out for his mass in a sports stadium in Abu Dhabi – as many as turned out in Dublin when he travelled to historically Catholic Ireland last year. The first visit by a pontiff to the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, highlights the complications of the religious situation in the Middle East, and more widely the issues of Christian-Muslim relations.
There may be as many as 2 million Christians in the Middle East today. Despite nearly 16 years of war and sometimes brutal persecution in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, many remain in the lands that were the cradle of Christianity. In part this is because it is still made as hard as possible for them to leave the region. The Christians of Iraq have largely been driven from their homes by persecution, as have some of the Christians of Syria, where a number have taken the side of the Assad dictatorship. But they have ended up in refugee camps rather than reaching notionally Christian Europe.
Continue reading...Francis’s trip to United Arab Emirates ‘to promote peace’ comes amid bloody conflict to south
Pope Francis will be the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, when he celebrates mass this week in front of an expected 120,000 people in Abu Dhabi.
The pope has been invited to visit the United Arab Emirates by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to take part in an international interfaith meeting as part of the Gulf state’s “year of tolerance”.
Continue reading...Conservatives have realized they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted
In just four days, teenager Nick Sandmann and his fellow students at Covington Catholic high school have gone from social media pariahs to conservative heroes.
On Tuesday night, Fox News hosts continued to feast on the controversy, which was sparked by a standoff between Covington Catholic high school students and a Native American veteran called Nathan Phillips. Footage show students wearing pro-Trump Maga hats taunting the Omaha tribe elder. The relentlessly repeated talking point — that there was a collective “rush to judgment” on the boys because they were Trump supporters – was used by conservative anchors Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham to attack mainstream media and left leaning social media users.
Continue reading...Philippe Barbarin could face up to three years in jail if convicted of failing to report priest who abused Scouts
The highest-profile Catholic cleric to be caught up in a paedophile scandal in France is going on trial charged with failing to report a priest who abused Scouts in the 1980s and 90s.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, is accused along with five others from his diocese of helping cover up abuse in one of the parishes in the area.
Continue reading...Delay in announcement is expected to increase tensions after government cut internet access
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s top electoral official has said the announcement of the results of the presidential election has been postponed.
Corneille Nangaa said the results of the election on 30 December will not be made public as expected. He said the official electoral commission will confirm the delay later on Sunday.
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