Chow's five-day trip to Beijing is the first visit by Hong Kong’s bishop in nearly three decades and came two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai.
Although his voice was slightly raspy after his recent recovery from a respiratory infection, Francis seemed in good spirits and warmly greeted the cheering crowd.
"I thank you for your participation and prayers, that in the last days you intensified,'' the pontiff told the crowd in St. Peter's Square, a reference to the many wishes he received for a quick recovery during his hospitalization.
The Vatican clarified that it was not COVID-19 but it would ‘require several days of appropriate medical treatment at the hospital.’
Opponents of the new ‘doctrinal note’ such as New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBTQ outreach organization, blasted the bishops’ statement as ‘neither good theology nor acceptable pastoral care.’
Catholic leaders are pushing back against efforts to alter state laws that exempt clergy from reporting child abuse they hear about during the sacrament of confession, arguing the changes will force priests to choose between the law and their faith.
Pope Francis celebrates the 10th anniversary of his election Monday, far outpacing the “two or three” years he once envisioned for his papacy and showing no signs of slowing down.
France’s Catholic bishops’ conference agreed to provide reparations after a 2021 report estimated some 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by priests or other church-related figures in France.
Pope Francis was backed by the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion and top Presbyterian minister in calling for gays to be welcomed by their churches as he again decried laws that criminalize homosexuality as unjust.
Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary sits in a “religious complex” housing other Christian denominations. And at this church in Qatar, the small Gulf emirate hosting the World Cup, there are some tweaks to tradition.