Church News

News from the Universal Church

Parolin, Zelenskyy speak; Priest murdered in Katyn canonized; Ecumenical Patriarch attends Pope’s anniversary liturgy; Emmanuel of Chalcedon

By Matthew Trojacek Call between Zelenskyy and Cardinal Parolin: prayers for Pope, peace Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (pictured above) discussed the Holy See’s role in the “path toward peace” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared news of a March 14 call with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal [...]

News from the East March-April 2025

By Matthew Trojacek Forcibly mobilized Ukrainian priest released after a week A priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was released after being forcibly drafted for Ukraine’s army. On December 21, on his way home from visiting his wife in the hospital where she had just given birth to their second child, Father Evgeny Rozhdestvensky was taken [...]

Pope names first female dicastery head

The link between Holy Orders and Church governance is increasingly unclear... By ITV staff Italian Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla was secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life until being named its Prefect in January Pope Francis promulgated Praedicate Evangelium, his new constitution on the structures and [...]

Homs bishop: Situation in Syria does not follow “Western narrative”

Archbishop of Homs, Syria: Rising persecution taking its toll on patience of Christians By Gianni Valente (Agenzia Fides) Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, Syria (Photo: RVA) “A new era has begun for Syria. And it is a difficult time again,” said Archbishop Jacques Mourad. The monk of the Deir Mar Musa community, [...]

New Vatican Document Examines Risks of AI

AI is not "an artificial form of human intelligence, but a product of it" By Salvatore Cernuzio (Vatican News)/ITV staff The Pope’s warnings about Artificial Intelligence in re cent years provide the outline for Antiqua et Nova, the “Note on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence,” released on January 28, that offers the results [...]

Cardinal Robert McElroy heads to Washington, DC — with “baggage”

By Christina Deardurff Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, newly appointed bishop of Washington, DC (photo: Diocese of San Diego) Pope Francis announced January 6 that Cardinal Robert McElroy, 70, the former ordinary of San Diego, California, and a vocal critic of Trumpian policy regarding the U.S. borders, would be the new bishop of Washington, [...]

News from the East January-February 2025

By Matthew Trojacek Moscow Patriarchate seeks to “open more parishes” across Africa Amid songs and dances, a diplomatic-plated car pulled up in front of a church in Akpakpa, a suburb of Cotonou, the largest city in Benin. Exiting with a smile, Constantin of Zaraïsk, Metropolitan of the Russian Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa and representative of the [...]

Francis releases new encyclical, Dilexit Nos, on the loving Heart of Jesus

By Alessandro Di Bussolo (Vatican News) Dilexit nos, Pope Francis’ fourth Encyclical, published October 24, retraces the tradition and relevance of thought on “the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ,” calling for a renewal of authentic devotion to avoid forgetting the tenderness of faith, the joy of serving, and the fervor of [...]

Christians caught in the crossfire as Gaza conflict worsens

Maronite Christians in Lebanon are caught in the crossfire between Israel and Muslim Hezbollah forces By Christopher Hart-Moynihan Here below, the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion, a tragedy from which Lebanon still has not recovered. “There is a big danger all around, and we never know when will be the next strike.” That [...]

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