Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

January 04, 2019

Argentine bishop at Holy See investigated for sexual abuse

January 04, 2019

Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta, an Argentine native appointed to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See in 2017, was accused last autumn of sexual abuse, the Holy See announced on Friday. Bishop Zanchetta had resigned as Bishop of Orán on August 1, 2017, slightly more than four years after his appointment there. Alessandro

How the Nativity Fast helped my journey back to the Church

January 04, 2019

Two months ago I wrote in these pages of embarking on the 40-day Nativity Fast of the Byzantine Rite. This was partly a spiritual preparation for Christmas, in reaction to the secularisation of the Advent season (as well as the watering-down of its penitential character in the Latin Rite), and partly as an exploration of

Why the Soviet Union failed to eradicate religion

January 04, 2019

There is a very affecting scene at the end of Turgenev’s mid-nineteenth century novel, Fathers and Sons, when Bazarov, the resolute young atheist who dominates the book, is dying of typhus and his father begs him to receive the Last Rites of the Orthodox Church in order to “give your mother and myself some consolation”.

Cardinal Marx urges change in tradition ahead of celibacy discussion

January 04, 2019

The cardinal said that 'truth is not final' and Church teachings could be 'adapted' to modern culture

Cardinal Dolan urges aid for abuse victims ‘no matter who their abuser was’

January 04, 2019

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York wrote in a recent an op-ed that while he fully supports victims of sexual abuse, proposed legal reforms in the state should be crafted so as support all victims, whether their abuser was part of a public or private institution. “I believe it is important to strengthen the Child

Hysterectomy can be morally licit in limited situations, Vatican says

January 04, 2019

The Catholic Church teaches that sterilization is morally unacceptable, but a hysterectomy could be morally acceptable if the uterus could not sustain a pregnancy, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Affirming past indications as to when a hysterectomy would be morally acceptable, the doctrinal congregation, in a note published on January 3,

New US Congress is nearly one-third Catholic

January 04, 2019

The 116th Congress was gavelled into session on January 3, bringing almost 100 new lawmakers into office, and with Catholics making up nearly 30 percent of the congressional freshman class. Catholics account for 28 of the 96 new members of Congress, including newly-elected Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), the only Catholic freshman in the Senate. In

Doctors, bishops express concerns as legal abortions begin in Ireland

January 04, 2019

January 1, 2019 marked the beginning of legalized abortion in Ireland, drawing dismay from Irish pro-life groups, who campaigned extensively against the reform. Once a majority-Catholic and pro-life contingent, voters in Ireland last May voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to their constitution, which had banned abortion. The repeal was officially enacted by President Michael

Pope calls for ‘change of mindset’ in letter to US bishops

January 04, 2019

Pope Francis has written to the bishops of the United States calling for a “change of mindset” to restore the Church’s credibility and trust among the faithful. “Clearly a living fabric has come undone, and we, like weavers, are called to repair it,” the pope wrote in a letter to the American bishops, dated Jan

Morning Catholic must-reads: 04/01/19

January 04, 2019

Pope Francis has urged the US bishops to tackle the abuse crisis as “a united body” (full text, Amy Welborn). The Church “has made enormous progress” on abuse, Cardinal Pietro Parolin has said. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has issued new guidance on hysterectomies. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the new