Tag: church

Senior Catholic nuns abusing power, says report in Catholic journal

  VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Some senior nuns are abusing their power, including by denying sisters healthcare and warm clothes, a report in a Catholic journal said on Friday. The Jesuit review Civilita Cattolica said that the problem of abuse of power by nuns “has not so far had sufficient attention.” The abuse “mostly does not take the form of sexual violence and does not concern minors,” the journal noted. Some mother superiors cling to […]

French churches reopen as coronavirus restrictions loosened

  by Taimaz SZIRNIKS with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French churches were preparing to hold their first Sunday masses in more than two months after the government bowed to a ruling that they should be reopened — provided proper precautions were taken. Nearly two weeks into the relaxation of its shutdown, the government finally allowed churches, mosques and synagogues to reopen. Last Monday, the France’s Council of State, which instructs […]

Dozens infected with virus at Frankfurt mass

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — More than 40 people were infected with the new coronavirus after attending a mass in Frankfurt earlier this month, German media reported on Saturday. Six people were admitted to hospital, local health authorities told the news agency DPA. The service was held on May 10, a few days after the reopening of places of worship in Germany, the daily Frankfurter Rundschau reported. Officials in the nearby Main-Kinzig-Kreis district had announced on […]

Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in Hawaii conducts contact-free Aid to Humanity during COVID-19 crisis

by Alfred Acenas (EBC Hawaii Bureau) Eagle News Service PEARL CITY, Hawaii (Eagle News) – Amid fears of the ongoing novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in Hawaii bravely conducted a contact-free, door-to-door food donation drive for their fellow neighbors, pursuant to upholding the essence of the Church’s Aid to Humanity program. Bags of rice, canned goods, toiletries, and other essential items were distributed in select communities […]

A taste of normality as restaurants, churches reopen in Germany

  by Ulas CÜRE with Marion PAYET in Berlin Agence France Presse SCHWERIN, Germany (AFP) — The waiters are wearing masks and there’s no singing in Church, but some Germans got a taste of normal life at the weekend as restaurants and places of worship reopened after weeks of coronavirus restrictions. In the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, residents took advantage of the sunny weather to flock to their favourite eateries and cafes for the […]

Disgraced Catholic Cardinal Pell of Australia loses child sex abuse appeal

  by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Disgraced Cardinal George Pell lost his appeal against child sex abuse convictions Wednesday, prompting relief from victims who fought to bring one of the Catholic Church’s most powerful men to justice. A former Vatican treasurer, Pell had been trying to overturn the verdicts and six-year sentence for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys at a Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s. The high-profile case pitted 78-year-old […]

Prosecutor accuses Argentine bishop close to pope of abuse

  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A bishop close to Pope Francis has been formally accused of sexually abusing seminarians, a public prosecutor’s office in Argentina said Friday. The prosecutor’s office in the Argentine province of Salta said prosecutor Mónica Viazzi accused Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta of “aggravated continuous sexual abuse.” This is the first time that a prosecutor has formally accused Zanchetta in his native Argentina. Zanchetta resigned suddenly as bishop of the Argentine city […]

Special Report: Top US cardinal accused of mishandling aide’s sex abuse case

  By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — When Cardinal Daniel DiNardo first met Laura Pontikes in his wood-paneled conference room in December 2016, the leader of the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to its sex abuse scandal said all the right things. He praised her for coming forward to report that his deputy in the Galveston-Houston archdiocese had manipulated her into a sexual relationship and declared her a “victim” of the priest, Pontikes said. […]

US Catholic abuse victims sue Vatican to name predatory priests

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Five Americans who say they were sexually molested by Catholic priests filed a lawsuit against the Vatican on Tuesday to compel the church to open its archives and hand over the names and details of abusive clergy. The plaintiffs “were harmed as a result of the Defendant Holy See’s practice and policy of not reporting suspected child abuse to law enforcement officials,” stated the lawsuit filed in US federal […]

Jihadists kill pastor, four others in church attack in Burkina Faso

  OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Gunmen killed four worshippers and a pastor in the first jihadist attack on a church in Burkina Faso, security and local sources said Monday, in the latest violence to rock the formerly peaceful west African nation. Sunday’s raid took place in the small northern town of Silgadji near Djibo, the capital of Soum province. “Unidentified armed individuals have attacked the Protestant church in Silgadji, killing four members of the […]

Sri Lanka Easter attack toll hits 290

by Ishara Kodikara in Colombo and Lakruwan Wanniarachchi in Batticaloa At least 290 are now known to have died in a series of bomb blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, in the worst violence to hit the island since its devastating civil war ended a decade ago. Eight apparently co-ordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests. The horrific death toll, which has risen dramatically […]

‘Paris is disfigured’: Tears and shock as Notre-Dame burns

by Joseph Schmid Crowds of stunned Parisians and tourists — some crying, others offering prayers — watched on in horror in central Paris on Monday evening as flames engulfed the Notre-Dame cathedral. Gasps and cries erupted at 7:50 pm (1750 GMT) when the top portion of the church’s spire came crashing down into an inferno that has spread to the entire roof. More gasps came a few seconds later when the rest of the spire […]