Are there really 10 important Catholic news stories for the past year? There’s lots of insider mumbo jumbo, like who was appointed to various dicasteries at the Vatican, the defection of Archbishop Milingo, rumors about a universal indult for the Tridentine mass, possible reconciliation with the SSPX, the process of changing the English translation of the missal. But as far as Catholic stories that are important to the average person, I think 5 or 6 is a more reasonable goal. Most of the important Catholic stories are longer term ones that consequently don’t make the news.
One not mentioned so far is the serious decline in Catholics in Iraq since the war there, likewise in Lebanon over the past few decades (especially since the Israeli invasion this year), and also among Palestinians in recent years.
Although it doesn’t have much to do with reality or the Church, the DaVinci Code book and movie probably merits a mention for the furor that it roused, much of it within Catholic circles.
