The anti-malaria vaccine, success after failure
The new vaccine against malaria was approved by the WHO on 6 October. In Africa, where the disease still claims the highest number of victims, everyone is hoping its distribution will be immediate. It could save tens of millions of lives. But ironically, this renowned success is proof of defeat: the policies aimed at eradicating malaria in Africa have failed so far.
Abuse, the French Church doesn’t see the blackmail traps
The findings of the Commission on sexual abuse in the French Church are serious, but the suspicion is the Church is being blackmailed: the high number of abuses is derived from estimates; the intervention of the frequenter of the Grand Lodge, Sauvé, who chaired the Commission on viri probati, is suspect because it omits the main cause: homosexuality. There is a risk that Confession will be affected.
Saint Eligius, glorifying God with his goldsmithing art
A great goldsmithing artist as early as the 7th century and a precursor of the Renaissance, Saint Eligius of Noyon, who was also appreciated for his care for the needy and for building churches and monasteries, served in the court of Chlothar II and his son Dagobert I.
- THE RECIPE: NOYONNETTE
Striking report describes religious persecution before Covid
The Pew Research Center has released its report on religious freedom in the world. The data refer to 2019 and is similar to that recorded in 2018. As many as 57 countries impose "high" or "very high" restrictions on religious practice. But that was before the fateful 2020 arrived with its national lockdowns, providing opportunities for religious persecution also in the West.
French Church abuse, secularisation is the problem not the solution
Sexual abuse is a serious problem for the Catholic Church and just asking for forgiveness doesn’t suffice. It is essential to understand the causes but in accordance with the criteria of the Church, not the world’s. Instead, the church is headed in the opposite direction, promoting the very secularisation that is the cause of the collapse of morality.
China’s war games against Taiwan, test the West
The repetitive air strikes that China has conducted in recent days in Taiwan's airspace, are the signal of a dangerous military escalation which involves all countries in the region and the United States. While an all out war between China and Taiwan is unlikely at the moment, the risk of the Chinese conducting lightning operations against Taiwan-controlled islands is instead a real danger to test whether the US and the West intend to fight for Taiwan.
German Synod attempts to abolish the priesthood
The Synodal Way has given the green light, with the majority of only one vote, to a further revision of the text "Priestly Existence Today", practically leaving open the debate on the abolition of the priesthood. For Cardinal Cordes this is a confirmation of the "heretical thrust". And a threat of schism that the Pope is called to face.
Who lost the war in Afghanistan? The blame game proceeds
Top American military brass has admitted defeat in Afghanistan. According to General Milley, the Biden administration bears political responsibility, while General McKenzie blames Trump for signing agreements with the Taliban in Doha. But it was Obama who first announced U.S. plans for withdrawal.
Jerome, a saint with a difficult character
He was impetuous and often argumentative, but he gave so much to Christianity through his life and writings. He was responsible for the first official Latin translation of the Bible, the so-called Vulgate. And his greatest teaching, as Benedict XVI has said, is "to love the Word of God in Sacred Scripture".
Bergoglio vs. Francis. A new concept of the papacy
Today the dominant Catholic theology holds that the Christian faith and the life of the Church is a historical process and that all life in the Spirit does not come from outside but passes through the concreteness of history. Remaining Bergoglio is therefore essential to being pope, because the papacy is not something that is "above" or "beyond" the man Bergoglio, but the Spirit opens up avenues of self-communication precisely from within that personal history.
