Pope begins meetings with hand-picked cardinal advisers on reform of curia

Milestone means 110 cardinals with conclave vote

Laos – Officials in the province of Savannakhet have ordered converts to Christianity to renounce their faith or face eviction from their villages. Amid concern at an upswing in conversions from the local animist faith, officials decreed that Christians will be removed from the district. Christians have rejected the order, pointing out that Laos is…

“It is important to bring the solicitude and the presence of the Church into the world of communications so as to dialogue with the men and women of today and bring them to meet Christ…The God in whom we believe, who loves all men and women intensely, wants to reveal himself through the means at…

Pakistan – A prayer service has been held at the Church of All Saints in Peshawar, the site of the September 22 suicide attack on the Christian community. As protests continue to demand greater security for the community, the church reopened to allow for prayers for the 83 lives lost when a suicide bomber struck…

Fr Kevin Doran says he can’t in conscience stand over statement

Australia – Bishop Christopher Prowse has been named Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia. The Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese has been without a bishop since Archbishop Mark Coleridge was moved to Brisbane in April of 2012. The Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese has a population of some 620,000, with a Catholic population of 176,500. They are served by around 120…

Hong Kong – Pope Francis’ response to a request for a symbolic ‘mooncake’ donation to prisoners in Hong Kong has generated excitement and a flood of cash donations since it was published in early September. The Asian Church news portal ucanews.com reported that Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired Archbishop of Hong Kong, issued the request to…

France – A spokesman for France’s bishops urged the government to ensure a new ‘charter of secularism’ does not impede religious freedom. Msgr Bernard Podvin, spokesman for the French bishops’ conference, told the French Catholic daily La Croix that although Church officials understood why the government sent the document to schools last week, “secularism must…

Catholic colleges and universities are ranked among some of the best in the country, US News & World Report’s annual rankings has shown. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana, is the top-ranked national university on the list, placing 18th in the magazine’s annual survey. Georgetown University in Washington was close behind in a three-way…