US Catholic military Archbishop defends those who refuse vaccines
Washington DC, US RNS The prelate who oversees Catholics in the US military issued a statement Tuesday supporting service members who have refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds. Archbishop Timothy P Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for Military Services in the US, was responding to the recent mandate from Pentagon officials requiring […]
Sight-Seeing: ‘Cosplay Christianity’ – the sin is in the denial of the life God calls us to
KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says that “anytime we find ourselves pretending, we ought to ask what about our real life – and our true self – is not enough”…
WHO says it may be “last chance” to find COVID origins
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The World Health Organization said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be “our last chance” to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and urged China to provide data from early cases. The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan […]
John Paul I, pope who reigned for only 33 days, put on path to sainthood
Vatican City Reuters Pope John Paul I, who reigned for only 33 days in 1978, will be beatified, putting him on the path to eventual sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Wednesday. A statement said Pope Francis had approved a decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of the late […]
Countries call for urgent action on biodiversity with ‘Kunming Declaration’
Kunming, China Reuters More than 100 countries pledged on Wednesday to put the protection of habitats at the heart of their government decision-making but they stopped short of committing to specific targets to curb mass extinctions. Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told delegates to a UN Biodiversity Conference in the city of Kunming that the […]
Guatemala protesters strain to topple Columbus statue, protesting coloniser legacy
Guatemala City, Guatemala Reuters Protesters in Guatemala tried to topple a Christopher Columbus statue on Tuesday amid protests against the treatment of indigenous people by European conquerors, the latest effort in a global movement to re-examine symbols of the colonial era. The demonstrations coincided with Hispanic Heritage Day, commemorated worldwide to mark Columbus’ arrival to […]
Scandal-plagued Catholic order denies hiding millions in offshore accounts
Vatican CityRNS An embattled Catholic religious order accused of hiding almost $US300 million in offshore accounts denied any wrongdoing in an online statement, declaring that it did not evade taxes and complied with international accounting standards. The Legionaries of Christ, a once powerful Catholic religious order that fell into disgrace in 2010 after sexual abuse […]
StrangeSights: Thai eatery adapts during flood; Russians prepare for ‘Star Wars’; Bosnian house rotates for a better view; and, auctioning Al Capone…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
‘Great replacement’ belief correlates with Christian nationalist views in US – survey
RNS An often repeated element of Christian nationalism – an ideology with a range of expressions and increasingly vocal supporters – is a belief in America’s divine origins. The United States, proponents insist, is meant to be a “city on a hill” which God intends as a blessing and example for the world. A new […]
In Brazil, Catholic pilgrims defy COVID to celebrate saint
Aparecida, Brazil AP Tens of thousands of worshippers braved the pandemic to make a pilgrimage to the vast Aparecida basilica in the interior of Sao Paulo state, some traveling on foot for days to reach Tuesday’s celebration of the nation’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida. On a normal year, the cathedral can welcome up […]