A priest was killed and another person seriously injured when two members from an Islamic extremist group stormed the Church of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy, France, on July 26. The assailants slit the throat of Father Jacques Hamel, who was 85 years old.
In response, the Union of Federations of the Adventist Church in France (UFA) issued the following statement: Continue reading
French religious leaders have called for more security at places of worship following the murder of an elderly priest in Normandy on Tuesday.
Representatives of Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist faiths spoke after meeting President Hollande.
On Wednesday evening Mr Hollande went on to attend a mass for the priest in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral. Continue reading
OXFORD, England- Catholic church leaders have reacted to the slaying by Islamists of an elderly French priest yesterday morning with a call to resist feelings of vengeance and hatred and to help build a civilization of love.
The peculiar horror of the attack, in which two young men attacked Fr Jacques Hamel while the 86-year-old was saying Mass, then made him kneel and slit his throat while chanting in Arabic at the altar, produced a wave of shock and revulsion across the world.
It was also clearly designed to feed deep-seated fears of a religious attack on Christianity itself.
Pope Francis responded not only to express his horror but also, pointedly, to describe it as an act of “absurd violence.” Continue reading
About two weeks before the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Father Leandro Lenin Tavares was putting the final touches on what he hopes will be a very successful spiritual mission: coordinating the interreligious center for athletes at the Olympic Village.
“We hope that the center will encourage harmony and unity among different countries and among different religions,” Father Tavares told Catholic News Service. Continue reading
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – An attorney in Minnesota is calling on Pope Francis to take action after documents released Wednesday show that, in his words, a “classic cover up” took place in the Twin Cities archdiocese, involving the former archbishop and top Vatican officials.
Jeff Anderson, an attorney who has represented hundreds of people claiming sex abuse by priests, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that documents recently made public show that former Archbishop John Nienstedt had a “sexual interest” in former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, as well as other priests. Continue reading
Former “singing” priest Tony Walsh faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison for raping a boy with a crucifix, a court has heard.
Anthony Walsh (62) committed the offence and two other rapes of the same victim before the Criminal Law (Rape) Amendment Act came into effect in 1990, meaning that the maximum penalty the judge can impose on each offence is two years. Continue reading
A Roman Catholic priest actually dances on the Family Feud and he does so in a very vulgar manner and everyone applauds? Notice how he dances “around” the TV game show host in the exact same way a stripper does for her victim. (Click here to watch on YouTube and click here for John1429.org )
The Vatican’s liturgy chief has called on priests to celebrate Mass facing east.
In an interview with the French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Cardinal Robert Sarah said that the Second Vatican Council did not require priests to celebrate Mass facing the people. Continue reading…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Attorneys on Tuesday accused a Minnesota archdiocese of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors as part of the church’s bankruptcy case.
They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of vastly undervaluing assets such as the St. Paul Cathedral and tucking money away in other corporations to shield it from creditors. Continue reading…
HAGÅTÑA, Guam — Amid calls for the Catholic Church’s spiritual leader in Guam to resign because of allegations of sexual abuse 40 years ago, the archbishop released a video Tuesday in which he denied the allegations.
Roy T. Quintanilla, 52, who now lives in Honolulu, came forward Monday to accuse now-Archbishop Anthony Apuron, 70, of abusing him when he was an altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Agat, Guam, and Apuron was a parish priest. Quintanilla said Apuron had asked him to stay over at the priest’s house one night and requested that he sleep in Apuron’s bedroom, where he was abused. Continue reading…