Cardinals have gathered for their final day of talks before the conclave to elect the next pope amid debate over whether the Catholic Church needs a manager pope to clean up the Vatican's messy bureaucracy or a pastoral pope who can inspire the faithful and make Catholicism relevant again. ...
05:10 PM, Mar 11, 2013
One of the most famous followers of the Church of Scientology, actor Tom Cruise dreamt of being a Catholic priest when he was younger though his plans were cut-short over an alcohol stealing incident. ...
12:41 PM, Mar 05, 2013
reparations for electing Roman Catholicism's new leader begin in earnest on Monday as the College of Cardinals opens daily talks to sketch an identikit for the next pope and ponder who among them might fit it. The idea is to have the new pope elected during next week and officially installed several days later so he can preside over the Holy Week ceremonies starting with Palm Sunday on March 24...
11:25 AM, Mar 04, 2013
Keith O'Brien, who resigned last week as Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric after claims of sexual impropriety, admitted on Sunday that his conduct had "fallen below the standards expected of me". ...
10:25 AM, Mar 04, 2013
Thousands gathered at the St Peter's Square in Vatican City to bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday. The outgoing Pope made his last public appearance as he addressed well-wishers from his villa. ...
05:25 PM, Feb 27, 2013
Two pontiffs, both wearing white, both called "pope" and living a few yards from one another, with the same key aide serving them. ...
06:01 AM, Feb 27, 2013
A top Scottish cleric has resigned amid allegations that he sexually abused four trainee priests in the 1980s. ...
09:40 AM, Feb 26, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI blessed the faithful from his window overlooking St Peter's Square for the first time since announcing his resignation, cheered by an emotional crowd of tens of thousands of well-wishers from around the world. Smiling broadly, Benedict raised his arms outstretched to the massive crowd in his second-to-last Angelus blessing before leaving the papacy. ...
07:46 PM, Feb 17, 2013
Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church including his closest advisers on Monday when he announced he would stand down in the first papal abdication in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to run the Church through a period of major crisis. ...
12:58 AM, Feb 12, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday that he would resign on February 28 because he was simply too infirm to carry on - the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March. The 85-year-old pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals on Monday morning. ...
04:51 PM, Feb 11, 2013
The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalise abortion. Ireland, the only European Union member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticised the current regime. ...
07:42 AM, Dec 25, 2012
Ireland on Tuesday announced it will legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, weeks after the death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused an abortion in the European country. ...
10:20 PM, Dec 18, 2012
Rev Moran Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, head of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church who was elevated as cardinal at a ceremony at the Vatican six days ago, returned on Friday to an impressive welcome. ...
02:36 PM, Nov 30, 2012
An 18th century 'martyr', who sacrificed his life for the faith in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, will be beatified by a Catholic church on December 2 at Nagarcoil in Tamil Nadu. ...
12:51 PM, Nov 27, 2012
Pope Benedict made six non-European prelates Roman Catholic cardinals on Saturday, chipping away at the old continent's domination of the elite group that will one day elect his successor. ...
01:58 AM, Nov 25, 2012
Belgaum: The father of the Indian dentist who died in Ireland after doctors allegedly refused to terminate her pregnancy today said he would write to the President and Prime Minister, demanding that India press for an independent inquiry into his daughter's death. Savita Halpannavar's father demanded that an Indian be appointed on the inquiry committee. "I am writing a letter to the President, Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister, asking...
10:47 AM, Nov 19, 2012
Warsaw: Some Catholic bishops in Poland say that Halloween is harmful because it promotes "diabolical" behavior and are asking believers not to observe it. Archbishop Andrzej Dziega in Szczecin, in the northwest, said in letter to his parishioners that under the vestige of fun, Halloween can be "destroying the spiritual life." The "tricks" hide "diabolical attitudes" by encouraging readiness to harm the others. He asked believers not to observe Halloween....
10:18 AM, Oct 31, 2012
Mumbai: Catholics have threatened to stop the screening of a forthcoming Hindi movie directed by Priyadarshan, 'Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal' if certain scenes making a disresptful portrayal of the community and its priests are not deleted, an official said here Sunday. A delegation of representatives of Catholic groups and a priest representing the Archdiocese of Bombay met and submitted a memorandum to Central Board of Film Certification chairperson Leela Samson Saturday....
04:50 PM, Sep 23, 2012
Vatican City: The Vatican, stung by communications blunders and mired in a leaks scandal, has hired an American journalist from Fox News and member of the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei to help improve its relations with the media. The TV journalist, Greg Burke, and the Vatican on Saturday confirmed what a senior Church source had earlier told Reuters. Burke, Fox's Rome-based roving correspondent for Europe and the Middle East,...
11:23 AM, Jun 24, 2012
Chennai: Catholic priest Rev Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul was arrested in Erode in Tamil Nadu on charges of molesting a child in the US when he was there during 2004, police said Saturday. Acting on an alert by Interpol, Tamil Nadu police arrested Rev Jeyapaul, 57, Friday evening and presented him in a court in Erode which ordered that he be handed over to Interpol officials in New Delhi. The Tamil...
11:01 PM, Mar 17, 2012
