The recent resignation of the Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI has left many dumbfounded. A decision of great courage from the 85-year old clergyman, his example has created debate as to why the Pope threw in the towel at a time when his church is losing popularity in Europe. The resignation ...

  Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday the 8th of December, marking the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Following him after he walked through the doorway was a frail Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI (88 years), whose resignation in 2013 resulted in the ...

Jesuit Superior General, Fr Nicolas Adolfo has convoked General Council (GC) 36 to facilitate his retirement as the universal leader of the Society of Jesus in 2016. If the General Council accepts his resignation, he will become only the third Superior General of the Jesuits to retire in more than ...

I just don’t understand why nuns and priests should practice celibacy because human beings are born with urges that have to be fulfilled; they have to eat, drink and procreate so as to guarantee that life on earth goes on. But why then suppress these urges in the name of ...

The Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has opened a new chapter, in Gweru diocese with the consecration and ordination of Monsignor Xavier Munyongani as Bishop of Gweru diocese. Gweru diocese has been running for 18 months without a Bishop. Speaking during the ordination ceremony, in Gweru at Mkoba Stadium on ...

Any Western journalist who’s spent time in Africa knows the usual reaction when a local bumps into one of us: “Why don’t you report any good news about Africa? Can’t you find something to talk about beyond Africans starving or killing each other?”   There’s also a Catholic version of ...

Roman Catholic Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Xavier Munyongani, currently Chaplain of Zimbabwean Catholics in England and Wales, as Bishop of Gweru in Zimbabwe. Mgr Xavier Munyongani was born on 1 January 1950 in Mutero mission in Gutu district in the diocese of Masvingo. His parents Joachim Mudhodhi and Anna ...

Below, RelZim.org provides full text of the six-page Pastoral Letter to Zimbabweans in the Diaspora by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference. It was published on June 19, 2012  ‘There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off ‘ (Proverbs 23:18)  1. INTRODUCTION We, the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe, primarily address this ...

reprinted with additions from the Catholic Herald  Robert Mercer, the fourth Anglican bishop of Matabeleland, was ordained a priest for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the UK end of last month.  The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a personal ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church immediately subject to ...

Some Zimbabweans complained about the way local preparations for the 2011 World Youth Day (WYD) were organized (see World Youth Day – an elite event for the Catholics? and Over 30 Bulawayo youths to participate in the World Youth Day in Madrid). But the event that took place in the Jubilee Hall of ...