Religious symbols ban does not violate student rights, says top EU court
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that prohibiting students from wearing religious symbols does not violate their rights.
Kosovo: Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije again denied entry
Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije was turned away at the Kosovo border, where he was to attend a new assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church. This territorial ban comes amid rising tensions between Pristina and Belgrade in recent months.
Converting Chora church to mosque, a new emblem of political Islam in Turkey
Dorothée Schmid, an expert on Mediterranean and Turkey issues, says the transforming of the Byzantine Church of St. Savior in Chora into a mosque is a highly symbolic decision and significant as Turkey tries to “neutralize” Christian heritage.
“Faith does not need extraordinary signs”
As the Vatican releases a document on Marian apparitions, Joachim Bouflet, historian and specialist in mystical phenomena, analyzes its implications for the Church today.
The Vatican’s spectacular U-turn on Marian apparitions
The Vatican introduces new standards for evaluating supernatural phenomena. The primary importance is now given to the popular sentiment of the faithful who come to pray at sites of presumed Marian apparitions.
Maryland schools may force students to read LGBTQ books, federal appeals court rules (Bloomberg Law)
In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court ruled that Maryland’s largest public school system does not have to grant an opt-out option to lessons involving LGBTQ-themed books. “In the 2022-23 school year, Montgomery County added more than 22 books with LGBTQ+ themes to its language arts curriculum for use in the classroom,” Bloomberg Law […]
Pope praises California death penalty moratorium, governor says (CNS)
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a speaker at the Vatican climate summit, said that Pope Francis praised California’s death penalty moratorium during a conversation on May 16. The Pope “immediately brought up the issue of the death penalty,” said Newsom. “I wasn’t anticipating that, especially in the context of this convening.”
Holy See: The Vietnamese Church’s freedom is for the good of society
A statement on the meeting of the Viet Nam-Holy See Joint Working Group reaffirms good bilateral relations between the parties and highlights how the Catholic community in the South East Asian country continues to be inspired by the Magisterium of the Church. Read all
News from the Orient – May 17, 2024
In this week’s news from the Eastern Churches, produced in collaboration with L’Œuvre d’Orient, Armenian faithful hold four days of demonstrations, Lebanon celebrates the feastday of St. Charbel, and three monks set up a new monastery in Iraq. Read all
Marian apparitions have existed since early Christian times
Alexander Brüggemann (KNA) Since the 18th century, Marian apparitions have been categorised as “private revelations”. As such, they raise theological problems, since according to Church teaching, God’s revelation came to an end with the death of the last apostle. The Magisterium therefore makes a sharp distinction between revelation and private revelation. The latter can only […]