On December, 9; the Roman Catholic Diocese of Noto posted an apology for Bishop Antonio Stagliano's comment saying Santa Clause is not real. The apology came after the parents of the children were outraged at the bishop's statement.
On Monday, December 6, Pope Francis commented on a leaked internal document of the European Commission, calling it "anachronistic." The pope's comments were from an interview aboard the papal plane on his way back to Rome from Greece and Cyprus.
On Monday, December 6, Pope Francis told reporters that “sins of the flesh are not the most serious.” The pope was taking questions from reporters aboard the papal plane during their flight from Cyprus and Greece back to Rome.
On Monday, December 6, a mob of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members, two notoriously militant right-wing Hindu groups, attacked St. Joseph’s School in Ganj Basoda, India. The incident happened around 12:10 at noon when more than 300 protesters started gathering outside the school’s compound.
The attack happened while the school was administering exams for their grade 12 students.
On Wednesday, November 24, a controversial painting of Jesus and Mary was stolen. The painting "Mama" shows a black Mary cradling the body of Jesus after his crucifixion, similar to Michaelangelo's Pieta sculpture. The painting was placed outside the Mary Mirror of Justice Chapel in the Catholic University of America (CAU) Columbus Law School.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) began tracking vandalism and other forms of attacks on Catholic sites across the country. Aaron Weldon of the Office of Religious Liberty of the USCCB said the attacks on the historic Catholic sites were “the impetus for us to start monitoring these sorts of events.”
On October 13, Wednesday, the Diocese of Brooklyn fired Matthew LaBanca, the music director of the Corpus Christi Church parish in Queens, New York. A statement released by the diocese said that LaBanca did not comply with church teachings as a requirement for being a minister.
On Tuesday, October 12, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Vatican can not be charged in European courts because of its sovereign status. The human rights court in Europe dismissed the suit submitted by a group of clergy abuse survivors, citing that the Vatican is a country with Diplomatic Immunity.
A 2,500-page report documenting more than 330 thousand cases of sexual abuse was released by a commission headed by France’s Jean-Marc Sauve on October 5, 2021. The document also counted 3 thousand priests and clergy members, including other church servants involved in the coordinated coverup. Victims and advocates believe that the report is long overdue but welcomes it warmly.
Protesters showed up during the September 26 screening of the film Benedetta at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, where the 59th New York Film Festival premiered the film. Armed with megaphones, banners, and placards, members of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property branded Benedetta as a “blasphemous lesbian movie.”
