Nigeria is drifting towards anarchy, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos has said. Authorities in Venice may erect a glass barrier to protect St Mark’s Basilica from flooding. JD Flynn and Ed Condon suggest a study commission on married priests “is on the horizon”. Gladden Pappin and Gregory Caridi say a “yellow check” system “could

“Every baptised person has received the vocation to evangelise”, Pope Francis said at yesterday’s Angelus (full text, full video). Ugandan Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga has issued a decree forbidding Communion in the hand. A new cathedral will be built on the site of a former prison in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. Archbishop Anthony Fisher has

Around 10,000 pilgrims have attended Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception ahead of the March for Life in Washington, DC. Pope Francis is concerned about the “silence and indifference” over the war in Yemen, a Vatican diplomat has told the United Nations Security Council. The Pope has approved the

Bishop Nelson Perez is the new Archbishop of Philadelphia, reports Rocco Palmo. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio defended the Jesuits from a Vatican intervention in 2007, according to a new book. Pope Francis has criticised politicians who close ports to migrants. Fr Bernardo Cervellera says the Cistercians are flourishing in Vietnam. Inés San Martín reports on

A bishop has offered to mediate between Ireland’s feuding gangs. An Indian archbishop has said he is “terribly shocked” by the desecration of a church in Bangalore. Claims that the Patriarchate of Moscow is seeking primacy in the Orthodox world are untrue, Metropolitan Hilarion has said. Bishop Joseph Strickland says he was “a bit nervous”

Pope Francis has condemned the “barbaric resurgence” of anti-Semitism. Politicians blocking the formation of a new Lebanese government lack even “an iota of humanity”, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi has said. More than 67,000 Austrians left the Church last year, according to official statistics. Westminster diocese has announced a “strategic review” following the departure of Westminster

Like St John the Baptist, we should not assume that “we already know everything” about Jesus, Pope Francis said at yesterday’s Angelus (full text, full video). Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has made his first public experience since going into hiding in 2018 (photo). Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako has ordained two new priests for the

Protesters have disrupted the installation Mass of the new Archbishop of Santiago, Chile. Two kidnapped Syrian bishops were killed in 2016, investigators have concluded. Christopher Tolkien, JRR Tolkien’s son, has died aged 95. Archbishop Mark Coleridge has formally opposed plans to force priests to violate the confessional seal in Queensland. The Vatican has signed an

A bishop has defended a Catholic parish’s offer to host the consecration of a female Episcopalian bishop. A Pentecostal pastor overseeing a two million-strong movement has returned to the Catholic faith. Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia has become godfather to another 500 children. Heidi Schlumpf explores how Matthew Kelly became one of the world’s bestselling

The apostolic exhortation on the Amazon synod will be released “by the end of this month or in early February”, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes has said. Argentina’s new president Alberto Fernández will meet Pope Francis on January 31, according to local media reports. Spain’s bishops will now ask couples to complete up to three years of

The number of South Korean Catholics increased by 49 per cent between 1999 and 2018, a new study has found. Apostolic nuncio Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro has urged Indians to “subdue” their differences. Authorities have reportedly transferred Cardinal George Pell to a new maximum security prison. Charles Collins, Ed Condon, Sandro Magister, Matthew Schmitz and Fr John Zuhlsdorf

“The good disciple is the humble one”, Pope Francis said at yesterday’s Angelus (full text, full video). The Australian Church will hold a national collection for victims of devastating bushfires. Filipino “healing” priest Fr Fernando Suarez is not guilty of abuse, the Vatican has ruled. Few rural Dutch Catholics “decide to attend Mass in another