Category: Church News

ABUJA, Nigeria — The national director of the Pastoral Affairs Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria has urged youth chaplains across the country to promptly report allegations of abuse involving minors to both Church and civil authorities, emphasizing that safeguarding is an essential responsibility of youth ministry. Speaking to ACI Africa, the sister service…

Pope Leo XIV continues to make changes to the leadership of the Roman Curia with new appointments to the No. 2 position in two key dicasteries: the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, responsible for promoting and ensuring the proper application of canon law in the Latin and Eastern Churches, and the Dicastery for the Service of…

The first-class relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque will visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore as the next stop on their U.S. pilgrimage. The sacred relics are traveling as part of a pilgrimage sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to mark the 250th anniversary…

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s financial intelligence and anti-money-laundering authority has been overhauled under a new 12-article statute that eliminates its president and board and places it under a new structure led by a director and deputy director appointed by the pope. The Authority for Financial Information and Supervision, known by its Italian acronym ASIF,…

A Christian group that is facing closure in Australia and elsewhere amid efforts to settle abuse lawsuits reportedly transferred millions of dollars’ worth of property to a separate Catholic entity over a period of years, according to allegations in a major news report. Christian Brothers Oceania Province said on June 22 it was proposing a…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he signed an executive order to deny citizenship to children born in the country to parents who lack legal immigration status. Trump signed the order on his first day in office, prompting immediate legal challenges based on…

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 ruled that states can bar men from competing in women’s sporting leagues, dealing a blow to LGBT activists who have advocated for allowing men who “identify” as women to join female teams. The court ruled in a consolidated set of cases out of Idaho and West Virginia that…

Amid a sexual abuse scandal affecting the Diocese of Northampton in the United Kingdom, Pope Leo XIV named an apostolic administrator to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is appointed. The pontiff named Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster to replace Bishop David Oakley, who was charged with abuse of an underage girl. In a…

Before his conversion to Catholicism, EWTN Norway’s editor-in-chief, Pål Nes, was a Freemason. But when he joined the Catholic Church, he left Freemasonry behind. The Nordic bishops, as well as the Church’s hierarchy, agree: A formal association with Freemasonry is incompatible with Catholicism. But this issue, which has come up in public conversation among Catholics…

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday named Italian economist Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, to succeed Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Cardinal Czerny will turn 80 on July 18, while the 51-year-old Salesian sister has been secretary, the No. 2 position at the dicastery, since August 2021. She…