Hanover (KNA): An independent team of researchers will present the first nationwide study on sexualised violence in the Protestant Church and Diakonie at the end of January. The results will be presented at a press conference in Hanover on 25 January, the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts announced on Wednesday. The study offers…
Bosnian Serbs celebrate controversial holiday
Banja Luka (KNA) With a military parade and drone show, ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina celebrated a controversial holiday to mark the founding day of Republika Srpska on Tuesday evening. The day of remembrance has divided the south-east European country for years. The Bosnian Constitutional Court has repeatedly declared the celebration illegal in the country’s Serb…
Cardinal Kasper renews criticism of German synodal path
Freiburg (KNA) The German Cardinal Walter Kasper (90) has once again criticised the reform plans of the German Catholic bishops. The former Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and Curia Cardinal told the online platform “communio.de” that the establishment of a Synodal Committee, which is to prepare the appointment of a new decision-making body with equal representation of…
First mega-procession of the “Black Nazarene” after the pandemic
Manila (KNA) More than two million people attended the procession with the historic “Black Nazarene” statue of Christ in the Philippine capital Manila on Tuesday. It was the first procession with the life-size statue since 2020; in previous years, the traditional procession was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 15,000 security personnel and…
UN estimates 14.6 million people in need of aid in Ukraine
Geneva (KNA): United Nations aid organisations will present this year’s aid programme for Ukraine and war refugees in neighbouring countries on Monday. This was announced by a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva on Tuesday. It is expected that more than 14.6 million people in Ukraine, 40…
Archbishop Gaenswein says he is still suffering from the death of Pope Benedict XVI
Wuerzburg (KNA): Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the former secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has said he is still suffering from the loss of his superior and companion one year ago. “The memory of the anniversary of his death awakens sadness, pain and melancholy in me,” Gaenswein told the catholic weekly newspaper Die Tagespost. Gaenswein said he did…
Vatican blinks and German Synod gets a win
Christoph Arens (KNA) In the end, the Vatican budged after all. Many German catholics had not expected its decision, announced shortly before Christmas, to allow the blessing of homosexual and remarried couples. Some reform minded catholics called it a Christmas present. For Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the decision…