Italian Catholics will be able to attend Mass in public beginning on May 18, provided certain norms are respected.
Europe
Posted inEditorials, Faith
Editorial: Discerning when and how a pope emeritus should speak
It would be a powerful outward sign of unity in the church if the pope emeritus and those who advise him sought to avoid situations in which his public comments will be inevitably misused to suggest a division that Benedict has never wanted.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis backs migrant farm workers as Italy mulls legalization
Francis said he had been struck by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on migrant farm workers, who even before the pandemic lived hand-to-mouth with intermittent jobs that pay around 25 euro ($27) a day.
Posted inFaith, News
Belgium’s Brothers of Charity cut ties to their homes over euthanasia
The Brothers of Charity were informed of the Vatican decision in a letter co-signed by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, doctrinal congregation prefect, and Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, doctrinal congregation secretary.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Rome’s parks buzz as Italy eases coronavirus restrictions, with Masses coming soon
In Italy, which still has the highest death toll in Europe, small weddings and funerals are allowed, but restaurants, gyms and churches will be the last to reopen at the end of the month.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Church in Italy studies ways to provide youth programs during pandemic
The Italian bishops’ conference are trying to find ways to provide needed care and programs for children and adolescents during the pandemic.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sees church threatened by pseudo-humanism
The retired Pope Benedict said: “Modern society is in the process of formulating an anti-Christian creed, and resisting this creed is punished by social excommunication.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta contemplates a post-Covid-19 multilateral future
The Cover-19 crisis has demonstrated how important it is “to give power to the supra-national institutions,” he said, suggesting that E.U. member states “take a step back in favor of the multilateral institutions and in particular the [European] Commission and the Central European Bank.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Order of Malta Grand Master, who led institutional reform, dies in Rome
Fra’ Giacomo led the 1,000-year-old sovereign order following an institutional crisis that caused deep internal fractures and a confrontation with the Holy See.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
After court ruling, Dutch cardinal sees increase of euthanasia in the Netherlands
Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht, president of the Bishops’ Conference of the Netherlands, said, however, the court’s ruling would not only make it easier for doctors to take the lives of dementia patients but would also put them under pressure to do so.