He claims that half of all Catholic priests are gay – and has himself been married to his husband for 14 years. He believes celibacy is to blame for many of the Church’s problems – and that the Vatican must take responsibility for the paedophilia in its midst. Is it any wonder so many people want rid of Father Bernard Lynch?
Episcopal Relief and Development has received a $350,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for work in rural Zambia in partnership with the Zambia Anglican Council.
The Bishop of Swaziland (a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa) has spoken out in a startling way calling for “regime change” and said the King must step down.
President Obama provided a new target to fight AIDS: treatment to 6 million people worldwide by 2013. Reuters reports:
“World AIDS Day is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on God’s call to lift up the dignity and value of each person.”
Monsignor Jean-Marie Mpendawatu Mate Musivi, undersecretary in the Vatican health office, told reporters Thursday that the Vatican’s position would be explained at the May 28 conference, to which the head of UNAIDS and other prominent AIDS researchers had been invited.
The Archbishop also reminds us that although there may be much to celebrate this year, there is still a good deal of work to be done to protect the very vulnerable, and in particular, women and children.
The Catholic Church in Belgium has been battered by scandals and missteps over the past year, and now its new leader, the conservative Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Brussels, has sparked a fresh controversy with comments declaring that people afflicted with AIDS are receiving “a sort of immanent justice” for their sexual practices.
The video highlights the plight of expectant mothers who are HIV positive and the support they need to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies. Also reported is the role of women’s prayer groups in combatting AIDS. UPDATED