Religion
The Vatican issued a statement approved by Pope Francis on Monday, saying that the Catholic Church will not bless same-sex unions as they are a "choice" and a "sin" and therefore "cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God".
"At the same time, the Church recalls that God Himself never ceases to bless each of His pilgrim children in this world, because for Him 'we are more important to God than all of the sins that we can commit'. But he does not and cannot bless sin: he blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him. He in fact 'takes us as we are, but never leaves us as we are'," the statement read. "For the above mentioned reasons, the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex in the sense intended above."
For the first time, a Catholic leader has travelled to Baghdad.
At the start of his trip, the Pope called for the coexistence of religions. Speaking at a reception with Head of State Barham Salih at the presidential palace, Francis said it was crucial to involve all political, social and religious groups and guarantee the fundamental rights of all citizens. "No one should be considered a second-class citizen," he said. At the same time, he called for an end to violence: "Let the guns be silent".
Over 60,000 people in Romania petitioned for the abolition of immersing babies in baptism ceremonies, as the Ortodox Church blames the parents and stands by its practices following a baby’s death.
“Immersion has been practiced for two millennia and will continue for the next 1,000 years”, said the archbishop of Tomis to a nationalist TV broadcaster.
In a world-first, The Pope has appointed a woman to the role of undersecretary to the Synod of Bishops.
The woman, named as Sister Nathalie Becquart from France, will have voting rights in the body which advises the pontiff and debates some of the most controversial issues in the Catholic Church.
The Bremen District Court has convicted the Lutheran pastor Olaf Latzel of the regional church St Martini parish in the Hanseatic city, of incitement of the people. The fundamentalist pastor had made homophobic and sexist remarks at a marriage seminar in October 2019, and a recording was posted online in March with his consent on his YouTube channel, which has nearly 25,000 subscribers.
According to the court, the statements are incitement and could emotionally justify violence against homosexuals.
Bernd Kuschnerus, the senior theologian of the Bremen Protestant Church, said he was "deeply saddened that a pastor of our church has been convicted of incitement of the people." The statements on which the verdict was based were unacceptable and damaged the reputation of the church, he said. There had been strong opposition to Latzel from the congregations of the Bremen Protestant Church for years. The church leadership has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the pastor, but these are suspended until a legally binding judgment is reached. Latzel's defense filed an appeal.
Pope Francis' personal physician, Fabrizio Soccorsi, has died as a result of an infection with the coronavirus. As reported by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the 78-year-old died after "complications" from a Covid 19 infection. Soccorsi had been admitted to Rome's Gemelli University Hospital on Christmas Day due to cancer.
The 84-year-old pontiff wants to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
The Vatican said that it is "morally acceptable" to receive a Coronavirus vaccine even if cell lines from tissues of aborted fetuses were used in its production. The Vatican stated that the use of such vaccines "does not in itself constitute a legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion".
Over 370 religious leaders from around the world are calling for an end to the criminalisation of LGBT+ people and a ban on gay conversion therapy, the pseudoscientific practise of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation. The leaders stated that "certain religious teachings have often, throughout the ages, caused and continue to cause deep pain and offence" to LGBTQ+ people and further have "created, and continue to create, oppressive systems that fuel intolerance, perpetuate injustice and result in violence."
Among those who signed are eight archbishops, including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu; over 60 rabbis, including former Chief Rabbi of Ireland David Rosen; the Catholic former president of Ireland Mary McAleese and various senior Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Hindus.
Keith Raniere, founder and leader of American multi-level marketing, cult-like company NXIVM, was convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography possession and other crimes last year and has now been sentenced to 120 years in prison on October 27.
Pope Francis as made his most explicit endorsement of same-sex civil unions since becoming pontiff while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.
"Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God," Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film. "You can't kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered."
The second most senior official in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, has unexpectedly resigned from office after being involved in a controversial deal to use church funds to invest in the purchase a London building. Becciu has denied any wrongdoings.
"Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu," so the Holy See.
"An investment was made on a building. It was good and opportune occasion, which many people envy us for today," Becciu earlier this year.
After being questioned by the police and released without charges a volunteer at the cathedral in Nantes has confessed to arson. No motive has been given as to why the volunteer warden has started the fire, but his lawyer has stated that he felt "relief" after confessing to the police.
The fire has destroyed the cathedral's 17th Century organ and multiple historically valuable stained windows of stained glass, but the fire brigade has managed to put the fire out before the main structure could be destroyed.
A 39-year-old Rwandan refugee has been arrested in connection with a fire in the 15th century Nantes cathedral. The man worked as a volunteer at the cathedral being in charge of locking up the building on Friday night.
Prosecutor Pierre Sennes said that three fires had been started at the site and that there had been no signs of a break-in.
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The fire department of the Départements Loire-Atlantique has reported that the cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Nantes is on fire. 60 fire fighters are combating the fire but according to the fire brigade "The fire is not under control, it is spreading".
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The 14th Dalai Lama has celebrated his 85th birthday on July 6 with releasing his debut album "Inner World". The album release was accompanied by a live stream which featured appearances from his long-time friend Richard Gere, actor Russell Brand and sitar player Anoushka Shankar.
"The best gift for me on my birthday, please keep your own mind, your own heart, more compassionate. And if possible serve others and help other people and animals," so the Dalai Lama at the end of the live stream.
Saudi Arabia authorities announced on Monday strong restrictions to the Islamic pilgrimage, or Hajj this year. Only citizens who are already resident in the country will be allowed to journey to Mecca.
The Saudi ministry of hajj said the decision was aimed at preserving global public health because of the risks associated with large gatherings.
The Phoenix megachurch Dream City Church is set to host a Trump rally on Tuesday night. In a video shared by Vaughn Hillyard on Twitter, Pastor Barnett and CFO Brendon Zastrow claim that they had installed a technology in their church that "kills 99.9% of Covid-19 within 10 minutes". The technology named "Clean Air EXP", which was developed by members of the church, uses "ionization of the air" to take "particulates out". The church has since removed the video from its Instagram account.
During an outdoor prayer service with around 130 attendees, Pope Francis has urged politicians to move funds from weapons towards medical research in order to prevent the next pandemic. Most of the invited people were directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and most of them wore masks during the prayer service except when leading prayers at the microphone. The Pope himself sat separated from the others and did not wear a mask himself.
The Ikea store in Wetzlar near the German city of Frankfurt had agreed to let the local mosque use the car park for their prayers. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic distancing measures were required and in a Facebook post, the Muslim community IGMG Wetzlar FATİH CAMİİ thanked the local police and the store for their help in making the prayers possible.
The health authorities of the German city Frankfurt am Main have reported over 40 new infected people after a church service was conducted. Church services had been permitted since the beginning of May under strict hygiene rules that mandate disinfectants and a minimum distance between the participants of 1,50 meters.
The metropolitan bishop Seraphim of Kythira had celebrated a Mass on March 20th despite the country suspending all religions gatherings following the spread of the coronavirus. He was arrested by the police, questioned, prompted to follow the regulations and afterwards released.