Austen Ivereigh

Yesterday s clarification by the CDF about Pope Benedict s remarks on the use of condoms by Aids-infected prostitutes made in Light of the World seems on the surface to add very little But to those who have been following the discussions among the moral theologians it is in fact highly signific

It was almost poetic Pope Benedict s depiction yesterday in his speech to the Curia of the glories of the priesthood — We realized afresh how beautiful it is that human beings are fully authorized to pronounce in God rsquo s name the word of forgiveness and are thus able to change the world to c

On Sunday the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmiud Martin made a profound apology to the former parish of a priest jailed last week for sexually abusing three boys the priest had long since been laicised after serving a previous conviction for abusing six others THe archbishop who has waged an at tim

The Guardian carries news today of the latest WikiLeaks disclosure of US embassy cables — this time relating to the Vatican The cables which are more than a year old mention the Murphy Commission into Dublin clerical sex abuse the Vatican s help in releasing British hostages in Iran the tech

Further evidence that Benedict XVI s comments on condoms were deliberate clear premeditated and designed to correct misrepresentations of church teaching appears today in an Our Sunday Visitor interview with Fr Martin Rhonheimer the moral philosopher close to the Pope s inner circle whose 2004 ar

Tomorrow is the the anniversary nbsp of the first ever abolition of the death penalty by a state — the Grand Duchy of Tuscany on 30 November 1786 — celebrated for the past few years as the International Day of the Cities for Life campaign organised by the Rome-based Catholic community of Sant Egi

Reuters FaithWorld blog has accounts by two Church of England priests who became Catholics in the early 1990s one of whom reverted after realising the depth of pain and controversy his move caused among those he loved The other seems very happy and only misses congregational singing and old churc

On Saturday the atheist polemicist Christopher Hitchens went up against former British prime minister Tony Blair in a debate in Toronto on the topic Religion is a force for good in the world Hitchens his head shaved from cancer treatment was in cracking form outrageous witty and clever Bla

The Church of England s parliament has overwhelmingly approved the Covenant which the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams hopes will prevent the worldwide 70m-strong Anglican Communion from falling apart see my earlier post The three houses which make up the General Synod — nbsp bishops

Now that we can move onto other interesting parts of the Pope s interview in Light of the World I haven t seen any comment on what Pope Benedict says about the Church in China It seems poignant in the light of today s news — a powerful Vatican condemnation of a state-appointed Catholic bishop In