Category: International News

The Rugby World Cup may be over, but the Notre Dame du Rugby remains.

Step inside this medieval chapel and you’ll soon realise this is no ordinary church.

Pope Francis will publish an autobiography next year in which he recounts memories of historical events ranging from the outbreak of World War II to the collapse of the Twin Towers on 11 September, 2001.

Renowned British filmmaker Ken Loach, whose work is characterised by its focus on social issues, has called for solidarity with the Pope’s work for migrants. Loach met with the Pope at the Vatican earlier in the year.

Statistics show that women of faith are more exposed to sexual abuse than others, no matter what religion they belong to. A survey carried out in 2000 showed that 7.8 per cent of women with no religious affiliation were victims of domestic violence, while the figure rose to 9.1 per cent for Catholic or Protestant women, and 17 per cent for Muslim or Jewish women.

Hong Kong authorities are on the verge of granting official approval for a new Catholic university to be established. 

This initiative has been announced several times by Bishop Stephen Chow, who was recently appointed a cardinal by Pope Francis.

New statistics released by the Vatican show that the global Catholic population is increasing. The annual report, released 22 October by the Vatican’s Fides news agency on World Mission Sunday, covers the one-year time period comparing the numbers of 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2020.

At a September 30 consistory, Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals from 15 different countries. Eighteen of the new cardinals are under the age of 80 and are therefore eligible to vote in a conclave. The consistory was in continuity with Francis’ steady geographic diversification of the College of Cardinals.

Pope Francis, who is known as ‘the Pope of the peripheries’, has suggested the possibility of travelling to somewhere no pope has gone before — the South Pole. In an interview, the 86-year-old Pope said he plans to visit his native Argentina, adding: ‘Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne, and visit New Zealand. It would be a rather long journey,’ he joked.

Pope Francis wants the next World Day of Peace, 1 January 2024, to focus on artificial intelligence’s impact, opportunities and dangers as the technology develops and influences a growing number of fields, from information to warfare.

Church leaders in Ireland are hopeful more parishioners will step up and preside at funerals to ease the burden on overworked priests, with two dioceses already commissioning laypeople to take charge where there is no priest.