VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The night of his election, Pope Francis phoned the Vatican ambassador in Argentina and asked him to tell the country's bishops and faithful not to feel obliged to come to Rome for his installation, but instead give the money to the poor, the Vatican spokesman confirmed. "Pope Francis did not forbid them to come," said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, b...

A mob of thousands attacked a Christian area in Lahore, Pakistan, last week citing alleged blasphemy against Muhammed. Others say ‘blasphemy’ was only a pretense to the religion-based attack.

It’s not enough to want to grow – although that’s a start; you have to plan for it and that planning must have God at its heart, say pastoral planners in the Diocese of Parramatta. Amid incredible ethnic diversity and expansion, they are not afraid of making frank assessments in pursuit of a brighter future, writes Robert Hiini.

Sydney Bishop Peter Comensoli could have claimed remarkable foresight in inviting Papal front-runner Cardinal Marc Ouellet to speak at Sydney’s forthcoming The Great Grace: Receiving Vatican II Today Conference in May (20-23), but he didn’t. Planning for the high-calibre event has been under way for at least 18 months, Bishop Comensoli told The Record last week, but the Cardinal’s presen...

Perth Christians are refusing to accept the signs of the times this Lent, pushing back with prayers, fasting, and signage of their own.

Melbourne-based theologian Tracey Rowland is a leading world authority on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger. She tells Robert Hiini what she thinks of the decision by Pope Benedict XVI and what the future might hold …

Deacon Stephen Hill says if he has one regret about his forthcoming ordination as a Catholic priest, it is that Pope Benedict XVI will not be the pontiff when it happens. Nevertheless, the former Anglican priest says, it is an exciting time to be a Catholic. It is a state of communion he believes God has been drawing him to his whole life. On Friday, March 1, Deacon Hill will be ordai...

The prayers of lay Catholics looking for intellectual stimulation in the faith may have been answered with the announcement last week of a series of dinner lectures to be given by some of the best Catholic minds Perth has to offer. The newly-founded Dawson Society for Philosophy and Culture will present Christian Man in the Modern World on Tuesday, February 26, with lectures from Perth’s...

Pilgrims have their cameras ready as Pope Benedict XVI makes his way through the crowd in St Peter's Square at the Vatican before a general audience in 2007. The 85-year-old pontiff said he no longer has the energy to exercise his ministry over the Universal Church and will resign at the end of the month. Photo: CNS. The Universal Church will long feel the effects of Pope Benedict's time oc...

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994. When Pope Benedict, 85, announced on February 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective on February 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the pap...