Archbishop: my archdiocese will not take part in Synod (CNA) A Catholic leader has said that his archdiocese won’t take part in the two-year global synodal process, saying that it would run “the risk of becoming ideological.” Archbishop Wolfgang Haas of Vaduz, Liechtenstein, announced his decision on Oct. 15, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. “I am of the opinion that in our small archdiocese it is possible for good reasons to refrain from carrying out such a complex and sometimes even complicated procedure, which in our parts runs the risk of becoming ideological,” the 73-year-old archbishop wrote…
Tennessee man pleads guilty to series of church fires (AP) A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Wednesday to civil rights violations for setting fires at four churches, prosecutors said. Alan Douglas Fox, 28, of Nashville, admitted during the plea hearing that he intentionally set the fires because of the churches’ religious character, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release…
Minnesota Catholic colleges investigate alleged sex competitions (AP) The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University are investigating allegations that some male students started a competition this fall to see who could have more sexual encounters with female students. The allegations were first reported by The Record, the student newspaper for both colleges, which are Roman Catholic schools…
Analysis: Catholic Church’s embrace of vaccines is consistent (The Washington Post) The American Catholic Church has historically come down on the side of public health, even when doing so has violated Catholic teachings. During the 1918 flu pandemic, American church leaders even temporarily sacrificed a central observance of Catholicism — the Mass — to slow the spread of the disease. Their decision illustrated how, for the church, preserving lives, even through imperfect means, has taken precedence over other deeply held beliefs…
