Josephine McKenna, Author at Crux

Religious and indigenous leaders seek to save rainforests
- Global Church, Religion News Service
- June 21, 2017
In the spirit of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, ‘Laudato Si’,’ religious and indigenous leaders from dozens of countries met in Norway to discuss the dangers of deforestation and climate change. The initiative plans to find new ways to protect the planet and indigenous people with interreligious cooperation.
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Catholic groups launch conversation about female deacons
- Global Church, Religion News Service
- June 18, 2017
Father Bob Bonnot of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests said about the possibility of women deacons, “He (Pope Francis) has asserted often that we must find ways to enable more women to play servant-leadership roles in the church. This is one possibility that could touch the church from the Vatican to grass-roots parish ministry.”
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In the shadow of St. Peter’s, a Mormon temple rises
- Global Church, Religion News Service
- June 11, 2017
Despite the predominance of the Catholic Church, particularly in Rome, Mormons are looking to the future with the opening of a new temple and visitors center that church elders hope will draw more converts.
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Vatican stargazers look for divine inspiration

Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican observatory, says, “It (science) always makes my faith stronger because it makes my relationship with the Creator much richer. When I go to pray, the God I encounter in prayer I compare with the God I encounter in creation. And see it is the same God.”

Pope meets knights of Malta before order’s contested election

Just a few days before the Knights of Malta convene to elect a new leader, the former head of the order has returned to Rome defying the Vatican’s wishes. The former Grand Master, Matthew Festing, did not say if he would vote for himself, though in a recent plot twist the order confirmed that the new leader would only be temporary.