Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti stressed that the allegations against Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta only emerged in recent months, nearly a year after Pope Francis created the new position for him as “assessor” of the Holy See’s office of financial administration.

At the time of his July 2017 resignation, Zanchetta had only asked Francis to let him leave the northern Argentine diocese of Oran because he had difficult relations with its priests and was “unable to govern the clergy”, Mr Gisotti said.

Pending the preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual abuse under way in Argentina, 54-year-old Zanchetta will abstain from work at the Vatican, he said.

The case could become yet another problem for Francis, who is already battling to gain trust from the Catholic flock over his handling of sex abuse and sexual misconduct, stemming in particular from the scandal of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Francis’s standing would take another hit if he personally intervened to help out a bishop from his native Argentina – finding a job for him during limited Vatican hiring – and the man later turned out to have credible allegations of misconduct against him.

Zanchetta’s hasty departure from Oran on July 29 2017 was mired in mystery. He did not celebrate a farewell Mass, as might be expected, and he issued a cryptic statement saying he had been suffering a “health…

Members of Early Rain Church in Sichuan have been prevented from meeting following a number of arrests including the church leader pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong on 9th December.

Both have been charged with state subversion.

An estimated 23 people have been detained or are missing since the arrests were made last month.

Bulletins posted on social media reported that the church’s WeChat groups and over half the personal WeChat accounts of church members had been closed down or restricted from sending messages since the crackdown began.

Between 20th and 31st December, authorities closed churches and confiscated materials from unregistered church groups in Anhui, Inner Mongolia and elsewhere in Sichuan, and prevented or interrupted Christmas celebrations in many places across the country.

School children were warned not to participate in Christmas events and there were reports in several cities of restrictions on Christmas decorations in public places.

Religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s chief executive Mervyn Thomas CMG said: “We are alarmed by the deterioration in the level of freedom of religion or belief in China, not only during the Christmas period but in 2018 overall.

“The forced closure of places of worship, and the detention of citizens peacefully gathering for religious services, suggest a dangerous direction for religious…

Stephen Pound has long campaigned against him being immortalised in the House claiming him to be a villain rather than a hero.

A military leader during the civil war, he was once named in a list of the top ten great Britons and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

He’s been credited as a defender of liberty, but critics claim his actions which mirror a dictator should not be celebrated.

Outlining his criticisms to Premier, Mr Pound said: “He slaughtered hundreds of civilians, priests and friars.

“Basically he was the Taliban of his time.

“His attitude to other strands of Christianity was foul and unforgiving.”

Cromwell statue outside Parliament

Cromwell’s bust has recently been moved and currently sits just outside the office of Mr Pound in a move officials have said is to do with health and safety.

Mr Pound claims it to be a provocative move.

He said: “The huge metal hulk of his torso used to be located outside the members’ tea room.

“I’m not admitting any culpability here but some people who found him offensive did turn his face to the wall.”

The bust has now been fitted with an alarm to prevent anyone moving it while a Houses of Parliament spokesman said it was against the rules to touch any artefact on display.

Mr Pound says he’s currently negotiating for the bust to be moved once more.

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In an eight-page letter, the pontiff rebuked the American clergy and said the sex abuse scandal had caused a “crisis of credibility” for the Church that’s been made worse by cover-ups.

The letter was released by the Vatican and delivered to US bishops attending a retreat in Chicago.

He also criticised division among the bishops and called on them to show unity and address the issues in light of the Gospel.

“God’s faithful people and the Church’s mission continue to suffer greatly as a result of abuses of power and conscience and sexual abuse, and the poor way that they were handled,” he wrote.

He said the bishops had “concentrated more on pointing fingers than on seeking paths of reconciliation”.

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A grand jury report in Pennsylvania made public last year documented how paedophile priests were often protected by church hierarchy or moved to other postings without the faithful being told of the priests’ sexual predatory history.

More than 1,000 victims were abused by hundreds of priests over seven decades in Pennsylvania alone.

Pope Francis has requested senior Catholic bishops from around the world visit the Vatican next month to discuss the best way to protect minors in their care.

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The Peterborough MP, who faces a possible prison sentence, had already been suspended and urged to stand down by the party after being found guilty at the Old Bailey in December.

However, Onasanya has indicated she hopes to remain as MP for her constituency.

In an article for the Peterborough Telegraph she said: “While it has been a successful year fighting back against these injustices, there is still much more to be done, and you can rest assured that I will continue to do so as your representative in the corridors of power.”

Labour confirmed on Friday that she had been expelled before Christmas, after party chairman Ian Lavery told her local paper, the Peterborough Telegraph, that it would run a candidate in any by-election.

Onasanya, a 35-year-old solicitor, was convicted after a retrial of colluding with her brother Festus after her car was clocked going 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney near Peterborough in July 2017.

The court was told that she was sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) to fill out, but it was sent back naming the guilty driver as Aleks Antipow, an acquaintance of her brother Festus, who was away visiting his parents in Russia.

Festus pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice over speeding, including over the 24th July incident.

Onasanya has compared her plight to Jesus and maintained her innocence…