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Religion

  • Quotes and news

    Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo of Lisbon has taken a step back and reversed his original statement that there is no major theological obstacle to the ordination of women. He now says that this is not possible, while noting that after making his...

  • Care of the soul

    Today’s readings: Isaiah 55, 10-11; Romans 8, 18-23; Matthew 13, 1-23 Anxiety, vanity, absurdity are different shades of our daily life that cannot be bypassed because they actually condition, at times to large extents, our way of living and...

  • Pontifical tweeting and embracing social media

    “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” This first ever pontifical tweet was made on June 28. Thousands of Twitter users retweeted the Pope. By July 1, 65,000 sent a...

  • Quotes and news

    Bishop Giovanni Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, once more criticised Nato’s bombing campaign in Libya. “Bombing is always an immoral act. I respect Nato, but I must also declare that war is immoral.” Mgr Martinelli did not want to go...

  • Vatican secret archives to go on display

    The Vatican is to unlock its secret archives for an exhibition on Rome’s Capitol Hill next year, officials said. Documents including an account of the 17th century heresy trial of telescope inventor Galileo Galilei will leave the Holy See for the...

  • Irish Catholic sex abuse compensation offer falls short

    Ireland’s religious orders are failing to meet their share of an estimated €1.36 billion compensation bill for victims of sex abuse, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said. Predominantly Catholic Ireland has been rocked by a series of child sex abuse...

  • Reshaping life

    Today’s readings: Zech 9, 9-10; Rom 8, 9.11-13; Matt 11, 25-30. One of the lessons we learn in life sooner or later is that we need to look after ourselves and treat ourselves gently. With time we discover how fragile and vulnerable our body, heart...

  • New language, narrative

    For centuries, the Church in Malta had a monopoly of structures and a monopoly of values. It was by far the biggest structure in our islands and had the duty to shoulder roles which, though they were not an intrinsic part of the Church’s core...

  • Quotes and news

    Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, said there is “no fundamental obstacle” in Catholic theology that would preclude women’s ordination in the future. He added, though, that he is not advocating women’s ordination, because of a...

  • Official Vatican newspaper marks 150th anniversary

    The official Vatican newspaper, which marked its 150th anniversary yesterday, stands out as “a paper of ideas” in a world increasingly dominated by secular ideology, Pope Benedict XVI said. A Latin proverb meaning “the gates of hell shall not...

  • Theology still has role to play in scientific thinking – Pope

    Scientists should give more recognition to Christian thinkers, Pope Benedict XVI said, as he awarded the Ratzinger prize for the first time, to three theologians. Theology, which he described as the science of faith, still had a role to play in...

  • Romanian Orthodox Church attracts cyber-followers

    The Romanian Orthodox Church, known as a bastion of conservatism, has broken a taboo by embracing the internet and tending to its flock via cyberspace. Believers are now invited to send prayers via the Internet, seek their soulmate on Orthodox-only...

  • Patriarch of Burmese Church on path to sainthood in Milan

    An Italian missionary who spent most of his life helping the poor in Myanmar was put on the path to sainthood on Sunday, in a beatification ceremony held in Milan’s Cathedral Square. Called the Patriarch of the Burmese Church by Pope John Paul II in...

  • Pointing outwards

    Today’s readings: Deut 8, 2-3.14-16; 1 Cor. 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58. Like the Jews at the time of Jesus, we also seem divided on the real meaning and implications of the Eucharist in public life. The natural setting for the institution of the...

  • Catholic atheism is on the rise

    Following the massive Yes vote in the referendum, a strong bout of Catholic atheism is definitively on the rise, though it has not yet reached the stage of an epidemic. As the words ‘Catholic’ and ‘atheism’ do not normally stand together an...

  • Quotes and news

    The Vatican is against the use of condoms and needle-exchange programmes as part of an anti-HIV/AIDS campaign. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, said the Vatican “does not endorse the use of condoms as part of HIV...

  • Icon-painting nuns combine religion and art in convent life

    On the wooded slopes of southwestern Serbia’s Golija mountain, a dozen nuns at the Gradac monastery have devoted their lives to God but have not turned their backs on their lifelong passion: Painting. Twenty years ago Jasna Topolski, already a...

  • God’s home

    Today’s readings: Ex. 34, 4-6.8-9; 2 Cor. 13, 11-13; Jn 3, 16-18. God’s identity is hard to define. We believe in the revelation of a God who, while remaining holy and shrouded in mystery, is ‘God with us’. God is not a concept. In the Scriptures,...

  • Let’s stop fooling ourselves

    I regularly meet people who voted No in the referendum who are still in denial mode, saying there isn’t a majority for divorce. They say 53 per cent of voters is just 38 per cent of the population. Small consolation when one considers that 47 per...

  • Quotes and news

    As from January 1, the Hungarian constitution will protect human life from the moment of conception. “Human dignity is inviolable,” the constitution states. “Everyone has the right to life and human dignity; the life of a foetus will be protected...

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