Staff Reporter, Author at Catholic Herald

Staff Reporter

Pope Francis clashes with abuse survivors over bishop

January 19, 2018

The Pope said allegations against Bishop Barros were 'calumny'

Amber Rudd asks public to have their say on pro-life vigils

January 18, 2018

Home Office is considering new powers to prevent alleged 'harassment' outside abortion clinics

Saint of the week: Angela Merici (January 27)

January 18, 2018

Famed for her beauty Angela was born in 1474 in Desenzano del Gardo, a small town by Lake Garda in Lombardy. She and her older sister Giana Maria were orphaned when Angela was just 10. They went to live with their uncle and further tragedy followed when Giana suddenly died without receiving the last sacraments.

In brief

January 18, 2018

Vatican circus angers animal rights activists The Pope’s almoner arranged for 2,100 homeless and poor people to go to the circus outside Rome last week, angering animal rights activists. One, Gaia Angelini said the “noble gesture” also involved the “exploitation of the weakest”. Vatican paper: Trump’s remark was ‘offensive’ L’osservatore romano has described President Donald

Vatican takes over scandal-hit group

January 18, 2018

The Vatican has appointed a Colombian bishop to assume control of a Peruvian group whose founder is alleged to have abused members. The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), which started in Lima in 1971, said last year that Luis Fernando Figari, its founder, carried out sexual, physical and psychological abuse of its members, both children and

Churches attacked ahead of papal visit to Chile

January 18, 2018

Several churches in the Chilean capital of Santiago were attacked last week, just days before the Pope started his tour of the country. Two churches were set on fire and a firebomb was thrown at another. Perpetrators left a note threatening Pope Francis, saying the next bombs would be “in your cassock”. Police defused two

Cardinal hails ‘paradigm shift’

January 18, 2018

Amoris Laetitia is a “paradigm shift” for the Church, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has said. Cardinal Parolin told Vatican News that the “difficulties” associated with the Pope’s document were probably due to the “change of attitude that the Pope is asking of us”. He said: “It’s a paradigm change … that’s what

Abortion campaigner given pontifical award

January 18, 2018

The Dutch politician and pro-abortion campaigner Lilianne Ploumen has been made a dame in the pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great, with the Vatican claiming that the award was part of a standard procedure. A Vatican spokeswoman said the award was “diplomatic practice” when an official is part of a state visit to the