Vatican City, 14th March 2010 (CNA – Catholic News Agency) – Presiding over the mid-day Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the day’s Gospel that presents the parable of the prodigal son. He explained that “only experiencing forgiveness, recognizing ourselves loved by a free love, greater than our misery, but also our justice, can we finally enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.” Full Story …

Vatican City, 14th March 2010 (CNA / EWTN) – Jadranka Kosor, prime minister of the Republic of Croatia met with the Holy Father on Saturday morning. Following her meeting with the Pope, Prime Minister Kosor met with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States. Full Story …

Vatican City, 13th March 2010 (CNA / EWTN) – Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See’s Press Office, released a statement on Saturday morning in which he made three “observations” regarding sexual abuse by people and in institutions of the Catholic Church. He also addressed dismissed as unfounded attempts to link the Pope to a decision to transfer a priest found to have committed sexual abuse when Benedict XVI was Archbishop of Munich. Full Story …

Vatican City, 12th March 2010 (CNA – Catholic News Agency) – Archbishop of Freiburg Robert Zollitsch met with Pope Benedict on Friday to speak of the revelations of sexual abuse against minors and measures being taken to investigate and prevent further occurrences. Pope Benedict, he said in a press conference afterward, expressed his “full support” for the steps put in place by the bishops’ conference to respond to abuses. Full Story …

Mexico City, Mexico, 12th March 2010 (CNA – Catholic News Agency) –  The bishops of Oaxaca, Mexico have condemned the “curse” of the “rule of minimal effort” which they claim exists in the country and should be banished due to its encouragement of crime. Full Story …

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 12th March 2010 (CNA – Catholic News Agency) – In a statement released following the 155th meeting of the executive committee of the Argentinian bishops’ conference, prelates called for the creation of laws respecting human dignity, the family and society. Full Story …

Vatican City, 12th March 2010 (CNA / EWTN) – According to a communique released by the Holy See on Friday, the Pope will not be returning to the northwestern province of Valle d’Aosta for his holiday this summer, but will instead retire to the Papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo closer to Rome. Full Story …

Vatican City, 12th March 2010 (CNA / EWTN) – Pope Benedict met with priests and bishops participating in an international theological convention on Friday and spoke with them on the importance of understanding what it means to be a priest. This awareness of their identity is all the more important as secularism advances and some try to reduce the priesthood to being almost a ’social worker.’ Full Story …

Vatican City, 11th March 2010 (CNA – Catholic News Agency) – In a new book consisting of reflections based on the 2008 Synod on the Word of God, the secretary for the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, writes that homilies should not last more than eight minutes. Full Story …

Author: Patrick B. Craine

Halifax, Nova Scotia, 10th March 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The head of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), Archbishop John Hepworth, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that it is “ludicrous” to suggest that God is present with same-sex couples in the same way as he is with husband and wife, and urged clear teaching on the true nature of human sexuality. Full Story …