Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI  prayed yesterday for the victim’s of Friday terrorist attacks in Norway (above), which took nearly 100 lives.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8657974/Norway-killings-Pope-Benedict-prays-for-the-victims-of-massacre.html

Victims of sexual abuse by priests will no longer be able to sue the Catholic Church for damages if a landmark judgment rules that priests should not be considered as employees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/24/priests-abuse-catholic-legal-plea

Thousands of people visited Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary in Minsk on Saturday to pay their last respects to Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek who died at the age of 96 in a Pinsk hospital on Thursday.

http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2011/07/23/ic_articles_259_174484

An alliance of independent human rights organisations, including the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, has reported a marked increase in political violence since in Zimbabwe ahead of elections that President Robert Mugabe called.

http://www.zimeye.org/?p=32850

OPINION

Laws that break the seal of Confession could be counter-productive for child protection, writes Fr Bill Uren, SJ, is Rector of Newman College at the University of Melbourne.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/church-and-state-are-split-over-an-irreconcilable-difference-20110724-1hv8h.html#ixzz1T2U7ScQn

AND FINALLY

As ‘a pragmatic alternative to construction of a new cathedral,’ Orange Diocese has submitted a formal bid for the ‘megachurch’ the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/crystal-cathedral-gets-50-million-bid-from-catholics-52755/

-Cross Wires is the Scottish Catholic Observer blog