Quotes and news

An Australian bishop has revealed he is under investigation by the Vatican because he is willing to discuss the possibility of ordaining women as priests, an issue Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have said is definitely resolved, and of ending clerical celibacy. Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba said he would "continue to fight for what I believe is the truth" regardless of the response from Rome.

The bishop referred contemptuously to conservative Catholics who complain to the Vatican about doctrinal and disciplinary irregularities as "temple police".

Fight material, moral poverty

Pope Benedict XVI commended Brazil's battle against material poverty but said it must be accompanied by efforts to fight moral poverty in order to protect human life, the family and honesty in public life.

The Pope said the policies of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to redistribute wealth within Brazil "strengthened and increased social justice for the good of the population". But he added that "the dangers of consumerism and hedonism, together with the lack of solid moral principles to guide the life of individual citizens, make the society and families vulnerable".

Development must include all people

The ultimate purpose of development programmes must be to give people "the concrete possibility to shape their own lives" and make sure even the most vulnerable groups feel they are a part of the larger society, said Archbishop Migliore Vatican apostolic nuncio to the United Nations.

He said that "social cohesion, as an expression of social justice, must be assured" to all people, and it is an "indispensable condition to meet the global crises that confront humanity today".

Protection for outspoken bishop

When Bishop Erwin Krautler of Xingu in Brazil's Amazon region celebrates Sunday Mass, beside his two altar servers he also has two police officers. His house is monitored by cameras and surrounded by an electrical wire fence, and he is no longer able to take morning walks around his neighbourhood.

"He is under protection 24/7", because he has received death threats for speaking out against injustices, said an official at the Brazilian Catholic bishops' Indigenous Missionary Council.

Pope's Holy Land itinerary

During his forthcoming visit to Israel and Palestine in May, Pope Benedict XVI will visit Bethlehem and Nazareth, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and a mosque in Jordan, according to journalist Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale.

The respected Vatican-watcher said the possible outbreak of violence in the region could still endanger plans for the Papal trip.

The Vatican has not yet confirmed the plans.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)