ROME – In the latest demonstration that it’s often difficult to understand Vatican news without grasping its Italian context and background, Pope Francis issued a new decree this week which creates a system of civil liability for judges and prosecutors parallels one which has existed in Italy since 1988. Among other things, the new system theoretically could be used by one or more of the nine defendants in the Vatican’s recent “trial of the century,” which pivoted on a controversial $400 million London real estate deal. Those convicted include Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former papal chi ..read more

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – As Sudan marked a grim one-year anniversary of bitter armed conflict last week, which came on top of what was already the world’s largest refugee and displaced persons crisis, the Catholic Church’s major international charitable organization is now warning of massive new challenges on virtually every imaginable humanitarian front. “After having already endured years of protracted crisis in the country, the Sudanese people now face much greater threats to their safety and security, housing, water, food, essential health infrastructure and education,” said an April 15 stateme ..read more

ROME – Father Massimo Fusarelli, leader of the worldwide Franciscan order, has appealed to his fellow Franciscans to stay put in the Holy Land despite rising tensions and threats to physical safety due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas on the Gaza Strip. Speaking in an April 18 interview with the Franciscan-run Custodia magazine, Fusarelli said after a recent visit to the region that the members of the Franciscan order living in the Holy Land were “better than I thought,” despite the current circumstances. He said his first words to friars living in the region were, “Please, brothe ..read more

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – One of the major blocs in the Brazilian Congress has been waging a war against social movements that promote the occupation of lands in the South American country. The so-called social pastoral ministries – Church commissions that assist Indigenous peoples, landless workers, and small peasants – are worried about the impact of newly proposed laws that criminalize these land occupations. The landowners and agribusiness bloc is one of the most important ones in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, encompassing more than 300 lawmakers from a total of 513. This group has been e ..read more

NEW YORK – A coalition of religious groups, including Catholic nuns and dioceses, recently argued before the New York Court of Appeals that the state violated their religious beliefs in mandating that they cover abortion in their employee health insurance plans. In Diocese of Albany v. Harris, a group of Anglican and Catholic nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and faith-based social ministries across New York State are looking for the state Court of Appeals to overturn the mandate, after their initial attempt failed. A decision is expected later this year. The New York State Depart ..read more

MUMBAI, India – In the South India state of Telangana on April 15, management at Mother Teresa School stopped a student who was wearing Hindu religious attire from taking an examination. The school is run by the Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (MCBS) in Adilabad Diocese. The student was wearing an outfit associated with Hanuman Deeksha, a Hindu religious observance that usually lasts 41 days before a final ceremony at a temple. The Catholic school has a school uniform, and does not allow students to wear other attire. The Mother Teresa School management did not allow the stu ..read more

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank hold their Spring meeting, a leading Catholic international aid group says the world is sinking “deeper into a global sovereign debt crisis.” The two leading groups are meeting in Washington, DC, from April 15-20. Maria Finnerty, Economic Justice Policy Lead at CAFOD – the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales – said the number of lower-income countries in crisis having more than doubled in under a decade. “In the 80 years since the creation of the Bretton Woods Institutions, man ..read more

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Two frontrunners for the upcoming Mexican elections, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, have been campaigning about violence, seen as the major problem in the Latin American country. The Church, which is working on a broad national platform for peace, managed to make the two major contenders commit to this, but few analysts seem to believe that they will be able to really change the critical scenario in Mexico. In March, both left-winger Sheinbaum, who was Mexico City’s head of government between 2018-2023, and Gálvez, a center-right politician who was a senator betwee ..read more

ROME – While conflict is churning both inside Italy and across Europe over a new plan by the Italian government to include pro-life groups among the consulters to publicly funded family planning clinics which issue certificates women need to have an abortion, the country’s bishops so far largely have sat out the debate. In part, that may reflect a troubled history among some of the country’s leading pro-life groups and the new leadership of the Italian bishops’ conference under Pope Francis, which takes a dim view of groups that seem to take their cues from aggressive American pro-life organiz ..read more

At the funeral this week of Italian mother Azzurra Carnelos, who died last week after refusing cancer treatment in order to save the life of her unborn son, she was hailed for her courageous sacrifice and for her love of life. Speaking at Carnelos’s April 17 funeral, Father Massimo Rocchi, director of the Brandolini Rota Institute in the northern Italian town of Oderzo, noted that she would have turned 34 the next day, telling her family, “She will celebrate heaven and you will celebrate here on earth.” “Yes, she will always be with you,” he said, noting that while Carnelos’s family and frie ..read more