The Pope has broken from his predecessors in seeking a more collegial approach to Church, governance, but the jury is still out on his ability to bring true reform, writes TP O’Mahony.

The Synod of Bishops must embrace reform. There is something skewed about asking male celibates to review the Church’s teaching on family life, according to TP O’Mahony

John Cornwell

HOW great is the gap between the official teaching of the Catholic Church, especially in the sphere of sexuality, and the actual practice and behaviour of Catholics? Thanks to an initiative by Pope Francis, we are about to find out.

THE recent disclosure during the trial of Pope Benedict XVI’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, that he stole highly sensitive documents the pontiff had marked “to be destroyed”, raises the intriguing question: What else is missing from the papal archives?

Pope Benedict launched a campaign to bring lapsed believers back to the Roman Catholic fold, opening a major convention of bishops on what the Vatican has termed the “new evangelisation” of the developed world.

THE head of the conservative Roman Catholic movement Opus Dei has suggested the Catholic Church should consider not giving Communion during huge Masses because it cannot be done “in a dignified way”.

The head of the conservative Roman Catholic movement Opus Dei suggested today the Catholic Church should consider not giving out Communion during huge Masses because it cannot be done “in a dignified way".

Bishops resumed closed-door meetings today on the state of the Catholic Church after the Vatican clamped down on releasing information because some prelates had expressed concern that details of their debates been made public.

Pope Benedict XVI opened a three-week meeting of the world’s bishops with a Mass today in St Peter’s Basilica, inaugurating his first major Vatican event since being elected.

The conclave to choose the next pope will be an election like no other, with many predicting the race will be as secretive as the Kremlin’s once were, if not more so.