Catholicism

In his most outspoken and critical remarks on the Catholic shrine in Bosnia, Pope Francis has dismissed seers' claims to have daily visions of the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje as highly improbable and as "without value".

The Apostolic Nunciature to Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed to BIRN a Vatican special envoy, Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser, is arriving in Sarajevo on Monday. He is due travel to the southern Bosnian town of Medjugorje later this week.

Turkish accusations of fascism in the Netherlands are "completely detached from reality," European Council President Donald Tusk wrote via his official Twitter account on March 15.

Turkey's remarks came after the Netherlands cancelled rallies by Turkish politicians in Rotterdam, which had aimed to drum up support for a referendum that would change the constitution.

A monument to Ustasha criminal Alojzije Stepinac in Osijek, Croatia "is a clear message to Serbs that crimes against them are allowed and will not be punished.

A book revealing widespread child molestation and a cover-up by Pope Francis of sexual abuses in the Catholic Church, which will be released on January 19, is expected to cause new controversy.

All priests will have the right to grant absolution for abortion, announced Pope Francis on Monday, reported AFP.

This was a temporary measure introduced on the occasion of the jubilee year of the Vatican but, now, the decision of the leader of the Catholic Church will remain permanent.

The State Hermitage Museum’s “Gateway to History” exhibition made its debut at the Byzantine & Christian Museum in Athens on Wednesday, following an official inauguration ceremony co-hosted by Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

In a news conference on Tuesday aboard a papal flight from Sweden back to Rome, Pope Francis declared that the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching that women cannot be ordained as priests is likely to remain in place forever.

A French cardinal accused of covering up for a pedophile priest, in a scandal that has rocked the local Catholic Church, admitted April 25 to "errors in the management and nomination of certain priests."

Pope Francis on April 8 opted for no change in the Catholic approach to homosexuality but signalled a more open stance on cohabiting and divorced believers under new Church guidelines on family life.