Pell clashes with gay activists
ARCHBISHOP George Pell refused to distribute Communion to members of a gayrights group at Mass on Pentecost Sunday in Sydney, after they donned multicoloured sashes symbolising their opposition to Church teachings on homosexuality.
A similar incident occurred in Melbourne, and there too the Rainbow Sash Movement protestors were denied the Eucharist by the city's new Archbishop Denis Hart, although he did offer them a blessing.
After distributing Communion, Archbishop Pell read a prepared statement voicing his regret that the demonstrators had chosen to make a political point during Mass.
Anger over visa rejection
BANGLADESHI youths have expressed dismay that their visa applications to World Youth Day in Canada this year have been rejected supposedly because of fears that they may not be able to afford to return home.
Over 1,000 young people have applied for visas from the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka to attend the world youth event in Toronto on July 18-28.
Those who failed to obtain the visas have persuaded Archbishop Michael Rozario of Dhaka to write to the Canadian visa authorities beseeching them to put the alleged injustice to right.
China bulldozes churches
Two CHURCHES have been shut down in Fujian province, eastern China. A French news agency quoted a lay Catholic as saying that officials came with bulldozers and tore down two churches on the outskirts of Changle on Pentecost Sunday.