FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON SUPPORTS HEADSCARF BAN IN SPORTS COMPETITIONS

Wed 14 May 2025: France’s president expressed support Tuesday for a ban on headscarves in sports competitions. “I stand by the Olympic Charter, which prohibits the wearing of all religious symbols in competitions,” Emmanuel Macron said during an interview with broadcaster TF1. He distinguished between practicing sports in facilities and participating in competitions, saying it […]

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THE VATICAN’S MESSY FINANCES: WILL POPE LEO XIV BE ABLE TO CLEAN UP?

Sat 10 May 2025: The late Pope Francis sought to battle corruption, but his successor faces the even harder task of balancing the books. In the days leading up to the papal conclave, which concluded on Thursday with the election of Robert Francis Prevost, 69, as Pope Leo XIV, the editor of Catholic Church specialist news outlet […]

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GERMAN SECRET SERVICE DOCUMENT HIGHLIGHTS FAR-RIGHT PARTY’S XENOPHOBIC, ANTI-ISLAMIC STANCE

Fri 09 May 2025: Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BFV) report highlighted the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) strong xenophobic and anti-Islamic stance, according to local media on Thursday. The BfV report referred to “ongoing agitation” against migrants, refugees, and Muslims by party officials. The AfD portrays migrants as a “threatening collective.” According to Der Spiegel […]

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FILIPINO BISHOPS DEFEND PAPAL CONTENDER TAGLE OVER HANDLING OF CLERICAL SEX ABUSES

Tue 06 May 2025: Filipino Catholic bishops are defending one of their own on the eve of elections to choose a new pope, with Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle in the running to fill the papal seat. In a rare statement over the weekend, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) outlined its stance […]

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WHAT’S A CARDINAL? THE ‘PRINCES’ OF THE CHURCH ELECTING A NEW POPE

Mon 05 May 2025: Cardinals from all over the world are poised to elect a successor to Pope Francis at the conclave that begins Wednesday. But what exactly is a cardinal? – HIGH DIGNITARY – A cardinal (from the Latin “cardinalis” or principal) is a high dignitary of the Catholic Church chosen by the pope to assist him […]

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AFRICANS CHEER TO HAVE FIRST BLACK POPE IN MODERN HISTORY

 Pope Francis with Archbishop of Kinshasa, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu. Mon  28 April 2025: Some Africans are hoping one of their own could maybe become the first Black pope in modern history and add onto Francis’s legacy of championing the developing world, although the chances of that happening appear to be thin. A continent where religion […]

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VATICAN MOURNS AS POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL BEGINS AT ST. PETER’S

Sat 26 April 2025: The funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, has gotten under way at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. Hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful have packed the site to bid farewell to the pontiff. World leaders began arriving in Rome on Friday before Pope Francis’s weekend burial, a ceremony that, although more low-key […]

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