Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has strongly criticised Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. The Austrian prelate said Mgr Sodano "deeply wronged" victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy when he dismissed media reports of the scandal as "petty gossip".
In a meeting with editors of the main Austrian daily newspapers Mgr Schönborn reiterated his view that the Church needs to reconsider its position on remarried divorcees.
He also referred to the case of Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, the previous Archbishop of Vienna, who resigned in disgrace in 1995 after accusations of abuse. He recalled that it was Mgr Sodano who had prevented then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from investigating the allegations of abuse.
Meanwhile, even Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi told the Austrian daily Kurier on Monday that Mgr Sodano's words at Easter were "certainly not the wisest".
Worst religious freedom violators
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging the State Department to name 13 nations as "countries of particular concern" because of their "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom".
The nations are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Kenyan stalemate on abortion issue
Abortion is proving to be a great stumbling block during discussions on a proposed new constitution for Kenya. Christian leaders have pulled out of negotiations with the government because of the abortion issue.
Catholic and Protestant leaders now say they will urge their people not to vote for the new constitution to be approved. They said the government could not provide any satisfactory solution acceptable to them.
Translators working on Pope's new book
Pope Benedict XVI has concluded the second volume of his book, Jesus of Nazareth, but the publication date is still months away as the book has to be translated from German into several languages.
"This second volume is dedicated to the Passion and the Resurrection, and takes up where the first volume ended," the Vatican press office said in a statement. The first volume of the work was published in the spring of 2007 and covered Jesus' life from his baptism to his transfiguration.
Catholics arrested during funeral
Vietnamese police disrupted a funeral and arrested at least 59 people in the Da Nang diocese, prompting a condemnation of their action by Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri. The police took action to stop the burial of the deceased on the grounds of a cemetery that has been seized by the state and designated for development.
Church to stand by 'battered' Greeks
The Greek Orthodox Church will stand by the "battered Greek people" during the current economic crisis, said the Church's primate, Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens, during a meeting with the nation's prime minister.
"We know that the consequences of the austerity measures will be more strongly felt after the summer, so we are getting ready, training parish priests to deal with the crisis," added Fr Gabriel Papanicolaou. "We are also preparing to supply food, clothes and other relief items, as well as to care for the needs of the people who lose their jobs, assist them with pastoral and psychological attention. The Church will stand by the people as it always has."
Compiled by Fr Joe Borg