Six lay staff members from a now-closed diocesan Cáritas chapter were convicted on money laundering charges in Nicaragua on Christmas Eve as the Sandinista regime stepped up its crackdown on the Catholic Church over the Christmas season. The Nicaraguan government has also forbidden the enactment of traditional "posadas," the living Nativity scenes created in the streets in the days leading up to Christmas.
Emilce Cuda's ascendancy in the Vatican underscores the structural changes that Pope Francis seeks. Those who know Cuda say that Francis is looking to her to help him hardwire Catholic social thought in the Vatican and beyond.
When terrorists wreaked havoc on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, it forever altered global affairs — including, inadvertently, paving the way for a relatively unknown Argentine cardinal to eventually become Pope Francis.
Argentina's legalization of abortion has been seen as a significant defeat for the influence of the Catholic Church. Worsening that feeling was the role Catholic women played in the campaign for the new abortion law.
Distinctly Catholic: Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro published an essay Sept. 5 examining the question: "What kind of government does Francis exercise, and how do we interpret it in the light of these seven years?"
The spokesman for an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis who has been accused of sex abuse criticized Argentine prosecutors for requesting an arrest order, saying the release of information in the case hurt his image and his presumption of innocence.
