An assistant bishop of the Roman Catholic Church has resigned in California, after revealing that he has a family, including two teenage children, living in another state. The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of Gabino Zavala, who had been serving in Los Angeles. The Roman Catholic Church requires that its […]
US Catholic Bishop Resigns Over Secret Family
US Bishop Charged in Alleged Pornography Cover Up
A U.S. Catholic bishop has been charged in the long-running clergy sexual abuse scandal, making him the highest ranking Catholic official indicted in the scandal in the United States. Prosecutors in Kansas City charged Bishop Robert Finn Friday with sheltering an abusive clergyman. They say the bishop became aware of child pornography images on the […]
Vatican Excommunicates Bishop Ordained by China
The Vatican says it has excommunicated a bishop ordained this week in China without papal approval, heightening tensions between the Roman Catholic church and Beijing. The Holy See on Saturday condemned China’s state-sanctioned Catholic church for ordaining Joseph Huang Bingzhang despite its warnings that he would not be recognized because the Vatican already has a […]
Hong Kong Bishop: ‘War’ Between Chinese Sanctioned Church and Vatican
A top Roman Catholic church official is describing tension between the Vatican and the government-sanctioned Chinese Catholic church as a “war.” Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen spoke in New York Thursday after the Chinese church ordained another bishop without approval from the pope — a violation of Vatican policy. Zen blamed the ordination on those […]
China Appoints New Catholic Bishop Without Vatican Input
China’s government-backed Catholic church has ordained a third bishop in less than a year without Papal approval, in a move expected to further strain ties between Beijing and the Vatican. The state-sanctioned church on Thursday elevated the Rev. Joseph Huang Bingzhang as the bishop of Shantou city in southern Guangdong province. It is the third […]
Arrest Halts Ordination of Catholic Bishop in China
Church-oriented news organizations say a Catholic priest in China has been arrested shortly before he was to have been ordained as a bishop. Vatican-linked Asia News and others say Joseph Sun Jigeng was arrested on Sunday in northern Hebei province, and is believed to be in custody at a guest house in the provincial capital. […]