For hundreds of years, visitors have descended on Rome’s Trevi Fountain to make a wish, following a ritual coin toss. But the coins the tourists rarely give a second thought to actually provide practical help to people they will never meet.
Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore on September 2–13, 2024. His four-nation visit will be one of the longest trips he has undertaken. Indonesia and Singapore have a very small minority of Catholics while 32 per cent of the people in Papua New Guinea are Catholic.
Twenty-seven preachers and theologians from North America, Europe and Asia have asked the Church to change Canon Law to allow qualified lay preachers to preach the homily at Mass to ‘reflect a synodal Church more fully’.
Church, refugee and human rights groups have described the passing of the UK Government’s Rwanda Bill, which will see asylum-seekers sent from the UK to Rwanda, as ‘a dark day’ and ‘cruel’. Parliament passed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill after months of ‘ping-pong’ between the Houses of Parliament.
New modern-style stained-glass windows are to be created for six of the chapels in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The cathedral is undergoing a major restoration after it was ravaged by fire in 2019.
One of Australia’s newest citizens is the auxiliary bishop of Sydney. Bishop Richard Umbers is a New Zealander, born and bred, but has lived in Australia for the last 33 years. He was made a bishop in 2016. He was granted Australian citizenship in April this year.
Unknown assailants shot and seriously injured a priest while he was celebrating morning Mass in Myanmar’s conflict-stricken northern Kachin state.
Pope Francis has called for Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement for ‘an immediate ceasefire in Gaza’, repeating ‘Enough!’ and ‘Stop!’ from the window of the apostolic palace.
The Coptic Orthodox Church has suspended its two-decade-long doctrinal dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church over the Vatican’s approval of same-sex blessings.
Nearly three-quarters of youth questioned in an international survey believe in God.
About 73 per cent of those surveyed said they believe in God, while a further eight per cent were ‘searching to believe in God.’ The survey canvassed the views of young people in eight countries about religious beliefs, prayer and social issues.