Embed from Getty Images Good news on the interfaith front from Florence, where the Church has agreed to sell a parcel of land in the commune of Sesto Fiorentino so that local Muslims no longer have to pray in garages and basements but instead will have a proper mosque: a “dignified place to practise their religion”, in the words of the archbishop of the city, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertori. The new deal brings an end to years of stalemate between local... Read more
Embed from Getty Images Pope Francis has dealt out yet another rap on the knuckles of those European countries which stubbornly refuse to accept refugees. To behold the faces of the many thousands of people forced to flee to the continent in search of a better life “is to see Christ suffering and crucified”, said the pope in a meeting with 31 Jesuits in Myanmar on November 29, adding that to accompany refugees is a “work of liberation”. “How can... Read more
In a message to mark International Human Rights Day this past Sunday, the Justice and Peace Commissions of the European Churches have called for a “legally-binding international instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other enterprises in human rights laws”. “Multinational companies have acquired in recent years considerable economic and also political power, which implies an increased responsibility“, alerts the continent-wide alliance of social justice organisations in the text. A responsibility that means “not only the civic obligations... Read more
Embed from Getty Images Yet another powerful figure in the Church has spoken in favor of Amoris laetitia, the apostolic exhortation that opens the way for divorced and remarried Catholics to return to the sacraments. Last month the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, declared that a careful reading of both the papal document and the now-magisterial correspondence between Francis and the bishops of the region of Buenos Aires “is enough for me and the diocese commended to me”. “I... Read more
Embed from Getty Images Two months after taking possession of the see the new Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini, has announced a minor synod on the question of cultural change and adaptation in the archdiocese. As Avvenire reported last week, consultations for the synod will begin next January 14, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and will involve collating the opinions of the priests and faithful that make up the more than a thousand parishes of the Ambrosian Church.... Read more
A group of nine Orthodox theologians from theology schools in Greece and the US has issued a strong reminder of the legitimacy and timeliness of restoring the female diaconate. “The historical, theological, canonical, and liturgical validity of the order of deaconess has been attested to time and again in recent years by Orthodox scholars and theologians”, wrote the scholars in a statement published on October 31. Words in support of the decision this year of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria... Read more
Embed from Getty Images “Identifying immigrants and refugees with criminals is enormously injust”. This Monday noon that of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE) became the latest voice to join in the chorus of outrage in the Spanish Church after the national government decided to imprison some 500 refugees, newly-arrived by boat, in Archidona prison, in Málaga, due to an alleged lack of space in the country’s “refugee internment centers” (Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros, CIEs). Speaking in a press conference... Read more
From our uncompromising vocation for quality religion news, and prompted by both the process of reform undertaken by Pope Bergoglio and by the reactions that process has garnered, we the journalists from different parts of the world gathered together on the occasion of the 1st International Congress of Journalists “Pro Pope Francis” declare the following: 1. Religion and spirituality are essential parts of the human being. We share the frustration of Pope Francis when in his encyclical Laudato Si’ (229)... Read more
This Monday saw the beginning, in Madrid, of a week in homage to Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, one of the great heroes of the Spanish transition from the Franco dictatorship to modern democracy. Following a Mass in memory of the Cardinal in the parish of San Antón -the famous 24/7 ‘church of the poor’ in the heart of the capital- Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, remembered Tarancón as a man “who lived for God”, and,... Read more
Embed from Getty Images A moving message was made public today from Pope Francis to the European Regional Meeting of the World Medical Association on end-of-life issues at the Vatican, in which the Bishop of Rome states that “the categorical imperative is to never abandon the sick”. When dealing with the ill, and especially with the dying, writes the Pope, “the supreme commandment of responsible closeness must be kept uppermost in mind, as we see clearly from the Gospel story... Read more
European Communion
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In