The bishops of France are warning the faithful that a private initiative to offer confessions over the phone is not sponsored by the Catholic Church. The initiative was launched in conjunction with the beginning of Lent, and notes on its website that the team is "for the most part Catholic", and that the service is "in agreement with the principles of the Catholic Church". Two telephone numbers are given for the public to call, with the last four digits of the first one spelling Dieu, which in French means 'God'.
Mgr Bernard Podvin, spokesman of the French bishops' conference, explained that while a phone service is "necessary and beneficial" - in particular to alleviate "the loneliness of elderly and people with handicaps" - the sacrament of confession requires the physical presence of a priest.
He added that the initiative introduces "confusion on the notion of confession".
Church runs 25% of healthcare centres
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, recently revealed that the Church administers "117,000 healthcare facilities, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages," around the world, or more than 25 per cent of the world's healthcare facilities. It also runs 18,000 pharmacies and 512 centres for the care of patients with leprosy.
Mgr Zimowski was speaking at a meeting of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, which marked its 25th anniversary this year.
Faithful asked to pay sex abuse expenses
Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns, Ireland, has called upon the parishioners of his diocese to help pay over €10.5 million ($14.2 million) in expenses from sex-abuse lawsuits. The figure reflects the payments to abuse victims and to lawyers involved in about 60 cases. The cost would amount to about €205 for every Catholic living in the Ferns diocese.
Bishop worried over miners' long hours
An Australian bishop is expressing concern that miners' 12-hour shifts are negatively affecting family life.
"Because of those hours the miners have to work, family life is affected, now that the father is not there when the children are going off to school or coming home from school, or going to bed, or so forth, and families find it difficult to be together as a family," said Bishop Brian Heenan of Rockhampton.
"We're not condemning anybody, we're simply saying that is there a better way we can support families because this is the way the mining industry has organised itself," he added.
'King will not be sanctioned'
If King Juan Carlos of Spain signs a new law easing restrictions on abortion, as he is constitutionally required to do, the country's bishops will not take action against him, the general secretary of the Spanish bishops' conference said.
"General principles" cannot be applied, said Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino of Madrid, the conference general secretary.
On the other hand, Spain's bishops had said Catholic members of parliament who vote to liberalise abortion would place themselves outside the Church and should not receive Communion.