Roman Catholic Church

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

This Is Not Your Father's Catholic Priest

Catholic priest Guilherme Peixoto spreads the gospel as a DJ

(Newser) - Guilherme Peixoto, a village priest in northern Portugal, has been busy this month celebrating Masses at his two parishes, presiding over remembrances for the dead—and, as the AP reports, preparing the electronic music set for his next international DJ gig. What started nearly two decades ago as a novel...

Pope's Meeting Calls Expanding Women's Church Roles 'Urgent'

Session is part of Francis' effort to include laypeople in decision-making

(Newser) - Pope Francis' big gathering of Catholic bishops and laypeople declared Saturday that guaranteeing fuller participation of women in church governance is "urgent," calling for research on allowing women to be deacons to be released within a year. After a month of closed-door debate, the Vatican meeting on the...

Pope's Comments on Same-Sex Unions Make Waves

Francis suggests there could be ways to bless such unions

(Newser) - Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of a big meeting where LGBTQ+ Catholics are on the agenda. The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals...

Pope Enters 'Crucial New Phase' for Church

Francis appoints 21 new cardinals to help him enact his reforms, cement his legacy

(Newser) - Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Catholic Church. On a crisp sunny day filled with...

New Evidence Shows Convents in Rome Hid Jews During War

Research finds names of 3,200 people sheltered during Nazi occupation

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered new documentation that substantiates reports that Catholic convents and monasteries in Rome sheltered Jews during World War II, providing names of at least 3,200 Jews whose identities have been corroborated by the city's Jewish community, officials said Thursday. Researchers from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Israel'...

State AG Releases Stunning Report on Church Sex Abuse

Report alleges 451 Catholic clergy in Illinois abused nearly 2K children from 1950 to 2019

(Newser) - In 2018, a grand jury report was released in Pennsylvania naming 300-plus "predator priests" in the state accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children over a period of seven decades. Partly inspired by those revelations, then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan started a probe in her own state,...

Courts OK Sale of Churches to Compensate Abuse Victims

Newfoundland archdiocese is liable for decades of abuse at Mt. Cashel orphanages

(Newser) - Canadian courts have approved the sale of 43 Catholic Church properties to raise money to pay victims who were abused decades ago at the Mount Cashel orphanage. The Newfoundland archdiocese's parcels include 13 churches, the CBC reports. It's not clear what will become of many of the properties...

Hot Vatican Rumor: Might Pope Francis Retire?

He did once say Pope Benedict opened 'the door' for future pontiffs to retire

(Newser) - Pope Francis added fuel to rumors about the future of his pontificate by announcing he would visit the central Italian city of L'Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013, the...

Pope Proclaims 10 New Saints
Pope Proclaims 10 New Saints
May 15, 2022 11:45 AM CDT

Pope Proclaims 10 New Saints

Thousands join Francis for first canonization ceremony in over 2 years

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Sunday created 10 new saints, including a Dutch priest-journalist who was killed by the Nazis, a lay Indian convert who was killed for his faith, and a half-dozen French and Italian priests and nuns who founded religious orders. Francis told the crowd of more than 45,000...

Pope Picks Nun Among New High Officials

Appointments are part of Francis' overhaul of the Vatican bureaucracy

(Newser) - Pope Francis made major appointments in his newly overhauled Vatican bureaucracy Saturday, naming new deputies for the doctrine office and confirming the highest-ranked woman in the Holy See as the No. 2 in the development office. The appointments are some of the first since Francis last month issued his long-awaited...

Priest Resigns After 20-Year-Long Semantics Error

Rev. Andres Arango of Phoenix used the word 'we' instead of 'I' in baptisms, rendering all invalid

(Newser) - If you or any of your children have been baptized in San Diego, Arizona, or Brazil over the past two decades, you might want to check who the presiding pastor was at that purification ceremony. That's because the Rev. Andres Arango, a priest in the Diocese of Phoenix, has...

Vatican Reveals Church Owns 5K Properties

Extensive release of real estate and financial records is a first for the church

(Newser) - The Catholic Church has made an unprecedented financial disclosure, revealing the extent of its real estate holdings around the world. More than 50 pages of forms released Saturday show that the Vatican owns 4,051 properties in Italy and 1,120 elsewhere, Politico reports. Vatican embassies are not included in...

On Punishments for Church Sex Abuse, a 'Significant Rewrite'

Pope Francis signs off on first major update to penal sanctions since 1980s

(Newser) - A slew of new rules on how to handle sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has received the official green light from Pope Francis, updating a penal system that's been in place for 40 years. The Washington Post calls it "the most significant rewrite of canon law" since...

DA: Priest Who Died Friday Killed Altar Boy in 1972

Richard Lavigne was about to be arrested for murder of 13-year-old Danny Croteau

(Newser) - Defrocked Catholic priest Richard Lavigne died before he could face justice for the murder of 13-year-old altar boy Danny Croteau almost 50 years ago—but the victim's older brother believes Lavigne is now facing a higher power. Danny was found dead in a Springfield, Massachusetts, river on April 14,...

Sicilian Judge Killed By Mafia Moves a Step From Sainthood

Pope calls Rosario Livatino a 'martyr of justice'

(Newser) - A Sicilian judge who was called a martyr by Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis has moved to one step from sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. The beatification of Rosario Livatino took place Sunday at the cathedral in Agrigento, near the spot where the judge was shot to...

Jesuits Promise $100M for Slavery Reparations

Trust will benefit descendants of enslaved people, including those sold by Jesuits in 1838

(Newser) - The Catholic order of Jesuit priests has pledged to raise $100 million for descendants of the enslaved people it owned in what the New York Times reports is "one of the largest efforts by an institution to atone for slavery." The order relied on slave labor and sales...

Pope Names Women to Posts Only Men Had Held

French nun will be the first woman to vote in the Synod of Bishops

(Newser) - Pope Francis has taken two steps to empower women in the Catholic Church's hierarchy, answering calls for change from laypeople, some bishops, and the pope himself. In both cases, women have been appointed to positions that until now have been held only by men, NBC reports. Nathalie Becquart, a...

Church Moves Teenager a Step From Sainthood

Cardinal says Carlo Acutis 'used the internet in service of the Gospel'

(Newser) - Carlo Acutis, who taught himself to code from a college textbook while in grade school, was precocious not just when it came to computers, but in matters of faith. "Carlo used the internet in service of the Gospel, to reach as many people as possible," Cardinal Agostino Vallini...

US Catholic Church Gets 'Unprecedented' Exemption for Virus Aid

Normally not eligible for taxpayer-backed SBA funds, churches reap billions of dollars from PPP

(Newser) - The US Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups. The church's haul...

Teen Likely to Be First Millennial Saint

Italian teen is one step closer to sainthood

(Newser) - The Catholic Church is one step closer to having its first millennial saint, NBC News reports. A miracle has now been attributed to Carlo Acutis, a London-born Italian teen who died in 2006 at age 15 from leukemia. Carlo taught himself how to program on his family's old computer,...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Popular on Newser
We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our privacy policy.