World & Vatican

Before Nov. 19, Father Valerio Bortolotti's Facebook posts had been the usual updates about parish activities, formation courses and video-recorded Masses outdoors. But when he ended up in a hospital that evening with pneumonia caused by COVID-19, he decided to keep his followers aware of his condition and of life "on the inside" in a crowded COVID-19 recovery ward in Rome.

Catholic and Protestant leaders say they want peace and reconciliation without being gagged.

A Catholic priest in the Philippines is set to stand trial on sedition charges, stemming from his public objections to President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug policies. 

​​​​​​​BERLIN -- The International Auschwitz Committee welcomed the arrest of a man who was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words "Camp Auschwitz" during the storming of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6.

ROME -- For a variety of reasons, "especially in relation to the political situation" in the United States, the Legionaries of Christ university in Rome will not honor Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said the head of the university's bioethics faculty.

CHALATENANGO, El Salvador -- In his 28 years as a priest in El Salvador, Father Manuel Acosta has witnessed his share of violence. He lived through the killings of Catholic clergy, men and women religious, catechists and countless lay ministers persecuted during the country's civil conflict in the 1980s. He has also lived through decades of gang aggression against El Salvador's poor.

Australia's financial crime watchdog agency said it over-estimated by the equivalent of more than US$1.5 billion the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020.

The report into mother and infant homes in Ireland reviewed 18 institutions from 1922 to 1998 and found that the church and state condoned "harsh treatment" of unmarried mothers.

VATICAN CITY -- Through baptism and the sacrament of marriage, Catholic families have a special grace and are a gift to the church even if, too often, that grace and gift have not been recognized, said Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

ROME -- Rome's Legionaries of Christ university plans to honor Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life.

The Cebu Archdiocese in the central Philippines kicked off festivities Jan. 8 to honor the Child Jesus, or Santo Niño de Cebu, while following strict COVID-19 pandemic protocols.

Can Tho Diocese follows pope's culture of care to help poor people during the festival.

ROME -- The breach of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 sent shock waves around the world.