“I cannot imagine Pope Francis wanting to prevent democratic decisions” on future of Church, says president of Central Committee of German Catholics after pontiff’s controversial remarks at Wednesday General Audience
Cardinal Cupich chides bishops who sided with Viganò over Pope Francis in allegations surrounding abuser former cardinal and Archbishop of Washington
Hans Zollner SJ says Vatican “control, supervision and, if necessary, intervention” of new Church societies and institutes necessary to prevent abuses of power
Father Tony Flannery puts lie to claim Vatican did “everything possible” to dialogue with him before September ultimatum over his support for women priests, LGBT+ people
Secretary of State letter to Latin American bishops acknowledges selective editing in new documentary has created “confusion”, but says Francis’ apparent endorsement of gay partnerships refers only to “particular arrangements of the State”
German Bishops’ ecumenism head shares impression Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith “hastily cobbled together” response to the intercommunion question
July document on mission of local churches was addressed to bishops, so bishops are Vatican’s dialogue partners, insists Congregation for Clergy Prefect Cardinal Beniamino Stella
Cardinal Marx says ball in Catholic Church’s court after latest Vatican refusal: “The others want to and we say ‘no'”
The talking points on the new encyclical Fratelli tutti (‘Brothers all’) that the Vatican has provided for Spanish-speaking bishops refute the claim that the Pope is a “socialist” or a “communist”.
In 2012 Fr Tony Flannery was punished by the C.D.F. for publishing articles about the ordination of women, the priesthood and LGBTQ+ people. Since then he has been removed from public ministry.
A leaked questionnaire on potential bishops has pointed up shortcomings in the Vatican appointments process.
A co-author of a German paper on shared Communion with Protestants has rejected the Vatican criticism of the document, saying that “the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is one voice among many in theological discourse”.
As Catholics working together for a renewed Church, we stand proudly in solidarity with Irish Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery in the face of continued threats and bullying from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) over his support for women’s ordination and the full dignity of LGBT+ persons.
The German Bishops are remaining defiant in the wake of the Vatican refusal of a proposal for Catholic intercommunion with Protestants.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has fought back against what he called a “very serious distortion” of a Vatican document on returning to in-person Masses post-pandemic.
Those who opt for the “intrinsically evil” act of euthanasia cannot receive the sacraments or be accompanied by a priest at the moment of their death, the Vatican has said.
A German Catholic bishop is resisting a new Vatican prohibition on shared Communion with Protestants.
Church reform groups have blasted the Vatican for bullying a “courageous” Irish priest in favour of women’s ordination and gay marriage, telling Roman authorities to “get a grip”.
There is an urgent need to return post-COVID-19 to a normal experience of Christian life through the physical presence of the faithful at Mass, said Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Despite the world’s educational system taking a battering in the COVID-19 pandemic with distance learning, the Vatican has reaffirmed the direct and interpersonal relationship of exchange and dialogue between teachers and students as indispensable for the learning process.
The Cologne archdiocese in Germany is planning to slash the number of its parishes from 500 currently to 50 or 60 in ten years.
German women have decried the “arrogance and ignorance” of the system of “male dominance” in Catholicism, issuing a powerful plea for female-friendly change in the Church: “Instead of monarchy and hierarchy, democracy and empathy!”
A German priest has urged the Church to shed the “ballast” of those traditions he believes are “hindering” it.
In a joint document released Thursday, the Vatican and the World Council of Churches urged humanity to embrace a philosophy of “daring and caring” to heal the post-COVID-19 world.
Young German Catholics have appealed for gender equality in the Church as their Bishops have accepted – with a catch – a dialogue with the Vatican on its recent polemical instruction on parishes.
A German bishop has said the need for Catholic renewal is not about saving the Church but instead about rediscovering the gospel.
A German archbishop and an Austrian bishop are seeking more debate on the ordination of women, saying that on that question “the discussion is still alive”.
Bishop Giuseppe Marciante of Cefalù, on the Italian island of Sicily, has entrusted the “participation in the pastoral care of the parish of St Paul the Apostle” in the town of Isnello to a “Family Pastoral Service Team” that includes laypeople.