By Cindy Wooden Father Caesar Atuire is not naive enough to ask his pilgrims to leave their smartphones at home. However, the CEO of a Vatican-related pilgrimage agency does ask his pilgrims to at least look at the holy sites – perhaps even say a prayer – before clicking and capturing the moment in a photo, text message, Tweet or Facebook post. Father Atuire, a Ghanaian-born priest...

A Pakistani court considering the case of a Christian girl allegedly found with burned pages of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, adjourned on August 30 without granting bail. The girl, Rimsha Masih, 11, who has Down syndrome, was charged under the country’s strict blasphemy law and has been held since August 18. Chances for her release received a boost on August 29 when district court...

Congo’s Catholic bishops helped other religious leaders circulate a petition asking UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the international community to end the continuing conflict in eastern Congo. The UN-run Radio Okapi reported that the petition had about 10 million signatures; Congo has a population of 65 million. At a late-August ecumenical service in the Protestant Centenary Cath...

The new head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says he wants the department to play a positive role in the New Evangelisation, rather than simply responding to doctrinal problems as they arise. “The task of this congregation is not only to defend the Catholic faith but to promote it, to give the positive aspects and possibilities of the whole richness of the Cat...

As Catholics prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, all Church members need to make a renewed effort to ensure laypeople are aware of their responsibility for the Church and are allowed to exercise it, Pope Benedict XVI said. “Co-responsibility requires a change of mentality, particularly regarding the role in the Church of the laity, who should not be c...

Chinese government officials have forced seven priests in Heilongjiang province, who resisted the illicit episcopal ordination of Fr Joseph Yue Fusheng of Harbin, to leave their parishes, local Catholic Church sources said. The action was taken, the sources said, to force the priests to “repent for their wrongdoing,” reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The priests are eith...

Under the headline “birth control and disinformation,” the Vatican newspaper took to task Melinda Gates, wife of the Microsoft founder, who announced in early July that the couple’s foundation would give $560 million during the next eight years to increase women’s access to contraception. Written by Giulia Galeotti, a frequent contributor on abortion and other life issues, the article on...

Assumed into heaven, Mary is with God and is ready to listen and respond to cries for help, Pope Benedict XVI said. Joining God in heaven, Mary “does not draw away from us, does not go to an unknown galaxy,” but becomes “even closer to each one of us,” the Pope said on August 15 during his homily at Mass for the feast of the Assumption. With his 88-year-old brother, Mgr Georg Ratzinge...

Pakistani institutions and religious leaders are working together for the release of a Christian girl accused of blasphemy and to reduce the risk of Muslim-Christian violence over the incident, said the Pakistani prime minister’s special adviser on minorities. Paul Bhatti, the Catholic adviser, told the Vatican’s Fides news agency on August 23 that those working to secure the girl’s rele...

Michael Jones, a member of St Columbkille Parish in Papillion, said he came to the third annual Heartland Catholic Men’s Conference on August 4 in Omaha to meet others in fellowship and learn more about the faith of the church. Such opportunities for inspiration and formation were lacking when he was raising children, said Jones, 63, noting that although ages of participants varied widel...