Dispatches

Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi nbsp 53 leads the Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Tonga 176 islands spread over 270 000 square miles in the South Pacific Ninety percent of the Kingdom rsquo s approximately 102 000 citizens are Christian of which 16 000 are Catholic Tonga is one of the most dev

Archbishop Francesco Montenegro 68 serves the Archdiocese of Agrigento on the southeastern coast of Sicily a population that includes some 449 000 Catholics and extends 130 miles into the Mediterranean Sea to the small island of Lampedusa Since 2011 over 300 000 refugees from wars in nearby Nort

In recent weeks South Africans have once again witnessed xenophobic violence The violence broke out after a Somali shop owner in Soweto shot a 14-year old local dead The shop owner claims that the boy part of a gang of youths was trying to steal from him One of the youths dropped a gun in the p

So about a month ago I wrote up a piece about one of the new Cardinals-designate Archbishop Alberto Su rez-Inda for the America blog I rsquo ve been trying to keep up with the troubles going on in Mexico and the appointment of Su rez who has spoken out against the violence and corruption see

ldquo The accountability of bishops is a source of great concern rdquo to the 17 members of the Commission for the Protection of Minors established by Pope Francis in March 2014 Cardinal Sean O rsquo Malley the president of this body told reporters at a Vatican press briefing February 7 ldquo

Pope Francis made a cybersplash with his recent participation at a Google hangout where he live-chatted with young people from around the world In December he reached out directly to a different group of young people in Arizona volunteers for the Jesuit-sponsored Kino Border Initiative The group

In a new and important initiative aimed at protecting minors from sexual abuse in the Catholic Church eliminating all such abuse and assisting the victims of past abuse Pope Francis has sent a letter to the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences and the Superiors of the Institutes of Consecrated Li

Archbishop Oscar Romero ldquo is a martyr of the Church of the Second Vatican Council In killing him they wanted to hit the Church that flowed from the Second Vatican Council rdquo Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia the postulator of his cause for beatification told a press briefing in the Vatican on

El Salvadoran archbishop ‘was killed in hatred of the faith’ on March 24, 1980

In a brief statement today Pope Francis set Archbishop Oscar Romero on a course to canonization by confirming his death as a martydomAccording to the Vatican release quot Promulgation of Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints quot Today the Holy Father Francis received in privat