Austen Ivereigh

I ve written here often about the Archbishop of Canterbury s game-plan for saving the Anglican Communion known as the Covenant It is his response to the fallout over the 2004 consecration of Gene Robinson which saw the 70m-strong Anglican Church worldwide begin what has seemed at times an inexora

Yesterday s Vatican clarification — one that quite exceptionally was made by its spokesman Fr Lombardi by reporting the Pope s answer to his question leaving no room for doubt nbsp — is as Fr Jim says a gamechanger in Fr Tom Reese s words it blasts out of the water the notion that condom

At a press conference earlier to launch Light of the World the Vatican s spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi acknowledged there had been confusion over the question of the gender of the prostitute cited by Pope Benedict And he got the Pope to clear it up for him He said the Italian version of the bo

Just released by the Vatican Caritas Internationalis works in the prevention of HIV infection and in the treatment and care of those living with HIV and AIDS Caritas Internationalis nbsp Secretary General Lesley-Anne Knight said nbsp The Pope s reported comments in this book illustrate the i

Here is the CNS translation of a statement today by Fr Federico Lombardi the Vatican s spokesman At the end of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 in the English edition in the book ldquo Light of the World rdquo the pope responds to two questions about the struggle against AIDS and the use of the condom

As a journalist and commentator I have been followed the arguments over the morality of condoms in the context of Aids for some years nbsp Pope Benedict s remarks in Light of the World finally clarify this question ending the silence from Rome The point argued by moral theologians was always th

The cardinals who could well be voting for the next pope now number 121 — 40 per cent of them appointed by Benedict XVI — following the consistory this morning in Rome a solemn and colourful occasion in which the new members of the College promise to defend the Church even at the cost of martyrdo

From CNS The Vatican is preparing a document for all bishops conferences offering guidelines for a coordinated and effective program of child protection and for dealing with allegations of clerical sexual abuse said Cardinal William J Levada prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of th

The world s first Ordinariate — a special jurisdiction for Anglicans becoming Catholics who are able to retain some of their traditions — will be created by the Catholic Church in England and Wales its bishops announced today Their statement announced a timetable of ordinations formation and re

I can t help feeling that the ugly scenes in the Greek capital yesterday when a mob descended on Muslims gathering for Eid prayers are going to become more common in Europe Just as Al-Qaeda scapegoats Christians in Iraq so Muslims are becoming convenient whipping-boys for rising European anxieti