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WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church in Germany’s two-year reform program that has questioned established teachings on faith and morals has prompted Pope Francis and Vatican officials to take increasingly urgent action to head off the possibility of a formal schism.  Across the Atlantic, the U.S. bishops have largely remained silent on the German program of reform, called the “Synodal Path.” But Catholic scholars here made their anxiety plain in interviews with the Register. They called for additional action by Pope Francis, pointed to signs that open dissent was spreading in Europe, and highlighted decisions in Rome and Germany that laid the groundwork for the Synodal Path. “The situation in Germany is coming to a head, and it is at a critical juncture in Pope Francis’ pontificate,” Chad...

Authorities in China are detaining Christians in secretive, mobile “transformation” facilities to make them renounce their faith, RFA haslearned. A member of a Christian “house church” in the southwestern province of Sichuan who asked to be identified by a pseudonym Li Yuese said he was held in a facility run by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s United Front Work Department, working in tandem with the state security police, for 10 months after a raid on his church in 2018. “It was a mobile facility, that could just set up in some basement somewhere,” Li said. “It was staffed by people from several different government departments.” “It had its own (CCP) political and legal affairs committee working group, and they mainly ...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday vetoed legislation that would have made his state the first to ban gender confirming treatments or surgery for transgender youth, though lawmakers could enact the restriction over his objections. The Republican governor rejected legislation that would have prohibited doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. “If (the bill) becomes law, then we are creating new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people,” Hutchinson said at a news conference. ADVERTISEMENT The Republican Legislature c...

CNA Staff, Apr 5, 2021 / 05:25 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis said Monday that Christians should “never tire of seeking the risen Christ.” Speaking before the recitation of the Regina Coeli April 5, the pope noted that Easter Monday is known in Italy as Lunedì dell’Angelo, or the Monday of the Angel. Referring to the Gospel reading (Matthew 28:1-15) in which Mary Magdalene and the other Mary encountered an angel at the empty tomb while looking for Jesus, he observed that the angel greeted the women with the words “Do not be afraid.” “We can reap a precious teaching from the angel’s words: we should never tire of seeking the risen Christ who gives life in abundance to those who meet him,” he said. The pope gave his address in the library of the Apostolic Palace due to coronavirus restrictions. ...

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2021 / 04:25 am MT (CNA).- May those who suffer take refuge in the wounds of Christ, and through them, receive the hope which does not disappoint, Pope Francis prayed on Easter Sunday. In his Urbi et Orbi blessing April 4, the pope said the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection “report an important detail: the risen Jesus bears the marks of the wounds in his hands, feet and side.” “These wounds are the everlasting seal of his love for us,” Francis said. “All those who experience a painful trial in body or spirit can find refuge in these wounds and, through them, receive the grace of the hope that does not disappoint.” “Amid the many hardships we are enduring, let us never forget that we have been healed by the wounds of Christ,” he said. The pope added: “In the light of t...

CNA Staff, Apr 3, 2021 / 07:35 am MT (CNA).- A Polish Catholic parish in London, England, said Saturday that it believed that police “grossly exceeded their powers” when they halted a Good Friday service and ordered parishioners to go home. Police officers interrupted the Good Friday liturgy at Christ the King Church in Balham, south London, on April 2, ordering worshipers to leave or face a fine or possible arrest. A video posted on YouTube showed a police officer addressing the congregation from a pulpit in the sanctuary of the church, informing them that the gathering was “unlawful” under current coronavirus restrictions. An April 3 statement on the parish’s website said: “On Good Friday, April 2, during the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, at the moment of the Adoration of the Cross, at ...

Good Friday is the most somber day of the Christian year. It is the day our Savior died for us. It is the day we were redeemed from our sins by the voluntary death of God Himself at the hands of man. Here are 9 things you need to know. 1. Why is this day called “Good Friday” It’s not for the reason you might think. Despite the fact that “good” is a common English word, tempting us to say the name is based on the fact that something very good (our redemption) happened on this day, that’s not where the name comes from. Precisely where it does come from is disputed. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains: The origin of the term Good is not clear. Some say it is from “God’s Friday” (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the G...

ROME – In a surprise move, Pope Francis on Holy Thursday celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper – one of the most sacred liturgies on the Catholic calendar – at the private apartment of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who resigned from his post earlier this year at the pope’s direct request. According to an article published on the Italian new site Faro di Roma by veteran Vatican journalist Francesco Grana, the pope celebrated the Mass in the chapel of Becciu’s apartment at 5:30 p.m. Thursday Rome time, roughly a half hour before the Vatican’s own celebration began, which Pope Francis did not attend. A Vatican source spoke to Crux about the Mass at Becciu’s apartment, saying that while they cannot speak to the pope’s private commitments, “a gesture of paternity like this on a day like th...

WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of U.S. Catholics say that President Joe Biden, who has contradicted Church teaching on abortion, marriage, and gender ideology, should be allowed to receive Communion. According to a Pew Research Center survey released on Tuesday, 67% of U.S. Catholics say that Biden should be allowed to receive Communion at Mass, while fewer than one-third (29%) believe he should not be allowed to receive.  Beliefs on Communion fell somewhat along party lines, with 55% of Catholic Republicans – or those who lean Republican – saying that Biden should be denied Communion, while only 11% of Democrats or those leaning Democrat saying he should be denied Communion. The Communion question has resurfaced during Biden’s presidency, as some bishops have previously cited canon 915 of t...

The Church’s Code of Canon Law states that confessions should not be refused, provided the proper conditions are met. TRENTON, N.J. — A parish in the Diocese of Trenton will no longer restrict the sacrament of confession to those who have received a COVID vaccine, after a clarification from the diocese.  On Sunday, the Church of the Precious Blood in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, had posted on its website that confessions would once again be available – but only for those who had already received the coronavirus vaccination.  “Only those vaccinated may come to the Sacrament of Penance in order to protect yourself, and more importantly, to protect others in case you are asymptomatic and contagious,” said the parish website on Sunday. Then on Monday afternoon, the Trenton Dioce...

The cardinal recalled how many saints, visiting the basilica over the centuries, have “perpetuated this beautiful tradition” and that now it is no longer possible for priests to individually celebrate Masses on altars over the tombs of saints, leaving the altars as “mere works of art.” Cardinal Robert Sarah has become the latest cardinal to publicly oppose recent norms suppressing individual Masses in St. Peter’s Basilica, explaining in a seven-point appeal to Pope Francis why he believes they are a mistake and calling on the Holy Father to withdraw them. Published Monday on the blog of Italian journalist Sandro Magister, the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments cited in his appeal previous papal documents underlining the importance o...