Ghana’s bishops have issued a statement protesting about the transfer of former Guantanamo Bay prisoners to their country, describing it as “wrong and dangerous”. In a statement signed by Konongo-Mampong’s Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu, president of the country’s bishops’ conference, the bishops said they had responded to this development with “distress and sadness”, calling on the…

Mercy at the heart of the Pope’s new series of talks God’s mercy is constant and limitless, and he is faithful in his mercy for his children, even when they are unfaithful, Pope Francis has said in his first general audience of 2016, the first of a series of weekly talks on mercy. Claiming that in the Bible, from the “Old Testament to the full…

Kenya’s bishops have said they are “shocked and surprised” by government plans to regulate worship in the east African country. Responding to concerns that some pastors were fleecing followers and some mosques are becoming centres of radicalisation, the government has published new rules requiring religious leaders to have theological degrees and religious groups to submit…

Europe has a “twofold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance to and acceptance to migrants”, Pope Francis has said. Speaking in the Vatican’s Regal Room in his annual New Year address to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pope reflected at length on…

The Belgian family of an elderly cancer sufferer who wanted to die by euthanasia is suing a Catholic care home for refusing to allow a lethal injection on Church-run premises. Mariette Buntjens died days later after receiving the injection from a doctor in a private residence. The woman’s daughter Nadine Engelen claims the Sint-Augustinus rest…

American bishops have welcomed President Barack Obama’s executive action on gun control, introducing a range of measures to regulate the sale of firearms. Miami’s Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said in a statement that “For a long time now, the bishops…

France’s future must be built with mutual respect, recognising everyone’s contribution, the country’s bishops have said. In a statement to mark the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in which 17 people were killed, the bishops asked whether lessons had been learned since then, saying that while “it is certainly urgent to listen to our…

First video prayer message calls for broad peace efforts Pope Francis has urged people of faith from around the world to work together for justice and peace. Sharing for the first time as a video message the traditional papal prayer intentions for the month, the Pope called for dialogue among religions and asked that people “not stop praying for it and collaborating with…

‘An ocean of mercy transcends human misery’ – Pope God’s mercy transcends the misery that so often marks human experience, Pope Francis has said.  “A torrent of misery, swollen by sin, seems to contradict the fullness of time brought by Christ”, he said in a homily at St Peter’s Basilica on January 1, asking, “how can the fullness of time have come when…

The coffin of Gisela Mota, mayor of Temixco, Mexico, is carried from her home. Ms Mota was killed on January 2, one day after taking her oath of office. Cuernavaca’s Bishop Ramon Castro Castro said the murder had clearly been intended to send the message “if you don’t cooperate with organised crime, look at what’s…