Gaza/Jerusalem (KNA) According to the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the city of Gaza is partly destroyed beyond recognition. The biggest problems for the civilian population, apart from the ongoing war, are medical care, the hygienic situation and the distribution of humanitarian aid, the Italian religious said on Monday in Jerusalem. He had previously visited…

Alexander Brüggemann (KNA) Since the 18th century, Marian apparitions have been categorised as “private revelations”. As such, they raise theological problems, since according to Church teaching, God’s revelation came to an end with the death of the last apostle. The Magisterium therefore makes a sharp distinction between revelation and private revelation. The latter can only…

Traunstein (KNA) A 39-year-old man from Upper Bavaria had sexual intercourse with his wife on the altar of a church in the summer of 2022. The Traunstein district court has now handed him a six-month prison sentence for disturbing the practice of religion. The court confirmed corresponding newspaper reports from Thursday. The woman had previously…

Amid the Catholic Church’s push under Pope Francis to increasingly engage with and welcome Indigenous peoples and cultures, Australia’s bishops have approved a new liturgy incorporating elements of Aboriginal language and culture. Called the ‘Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit’, or Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti in Latin, the liturgy was formally approved for…

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ordained Zimbabwean Angelic Molen as a deaconess in the Orthodox Church. Taking place on May 2, Orthodox Holy Thursday, the ordination was conducted at St Nektarios Mission Parish near Harare, Zimbabwe, by the archbishop of Zimbabwe, Metropolitan Serafim. The St Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, a US-based organisation…

Nearly 50 employees of the Vatican Museums have initiated a labour dispute with the Holy See over what they allege are poor, unfair and unsafe working conditions, which could result in a class action lawsuit against Pope Francis’s administration. First reported by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the complaint has been lodged by 49 out…

This year’s International Charlemagne Prize goes to Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chairman of the European Rabbinical Conference. He uses his acceptance speech to make a fiery plea in favour of human rights. Aachen (KNA) The Chairman of the European Rabbinical Conference (CER), Pinchas Goldschmidt (60), has called for a resolute fight for democracy and human rights and…

In the wake of the brutal slaying of three police officers in Chile, an act that shocked the conscience of the South American nation, the country’s Catholic bishops stressed the themes of violence and public fear in an April 30 meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric. Archbishop René Rebolledo of La Serena, who heads the…

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a new report last week highlighting the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world. This year, the countries topping USCIRF’s list of the world’s most egregious religious freedom violators were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,…