updated Sun. March 17, 2024
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Vatican News
April 22, 2018
By Devin Watkins. Pope Francis on Saturday sent a video message to the young people of Cuba, telling them never to fear to heed God's call. The Pope encouraged them “to fall in love with Jesus” and to work for the advancement of the Catholic Church in Cuba. He said God's call presents itself inÃâà...
America Magazine
April 22, 2018
In a historic decision, Pope Francis has appointed three women—two Italians and one Belgian—as consultants to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as part of his ongoing effort to give a greater role to women in the work of the Roman Curia offices, the central administration of the Catholic churchÃâà...
Vatican News
April 22, 2018
And quoting from his recent Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” the Pope said that “Sharing the word and celebrating the Eucharist together fosters fraternity and makes us a holy and missionary community”. The Eucharist, he said, makes the Church, brings it together and unites it in a bond of loveÃâà...
National Catholic Register
April 22, 2018
For Massimo Borghesi, author of Jorge Mario Bergoglio: An Intellectual Biography, Pope Francis is an “original and profound” thinker who has drawn on numerous Church thinkers of the 20th century to seek a “third position” between conservatism and progressivism. In email comments to the Register,Ãâà...
GreenBiz
April 22, 2018
If Pope Francis were the United States Secretary of the Treasury, he might have issued the Department of the Treasury's recent press release April 22 with this comment from his encyclical "Laudato Si": "Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they mayÃâà...
New York Magazine
April 21, 2018
... so much seems to come down to the Pope's willingness to contemplate allowing divorced and remarried Catholics who want to be a part of the church to receive Communion: “If a rule rooted in Jesus' own words, confirmed by dogmatic definitions and explicitly reconfirmed by the previous two popes,Ãâà...
Catholic Herald Online
April 21, 2018
The Pope visited Alessano, southern Italy, the birthplace of Bishop Bello, whose Cause was opened in 2007. Pope Francis has flown to Alessano, southern Italy, to commemorate 25 years since the death of Bishop Tonino Bello. The Pope was greeted by the faithful of Alessano singing “Oh, Freedom”,Ãâà...
National Catholic Reporter
April 20, 2018
So while the John Paul II and Benedict XVI papacies had liberal theologians arguing that popes should govern more collaboratively, traditionalist critics of the current pope "have become reluctant to accept papal teaching (in its contents and forms) only with Francis," said Villanova University theologyÃâà...
America Magazine
April 2, 2018
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves his final general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in this Feb. 27, 2013, file photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring). My acquaintance with J.R. dates back to when I was a fourth-grade student in Bogenhausen, a suburb of Munich, in the early 1950s. ElementaryÃâà...
Slate Magazine
April 2, 2018
Francis has done things that the last couple popes were unwilling to do. He's actually gone in and removed bishops in cases where bishops have participated in a cover-up or otherwise mishandled sex abuse allegations. And that's a good thing, and it's a necessary step. I think generally, Pope Benedict didÃâà...
CBC.ca
April 2, 2018
The NDP plans to table a motion in the House of Commons calling on Pope Francis to apologize for the abuse suffered by Indigenous children at Indian residential schools, according to a letter sent by the federal party's MPs Monday to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The letter did not state when the NDPÃâà...
OneNewsNow
April 2, 2018
In addition, this isn't the first time Pope Francis has made controversial comments, Lawler notes. Francis, he says, is quite a change from the popes that came before him. "It's causing enormous confusion, and I think some divisions among the faithful – between those who are delighted with what the pope isÃâà...
New York Times
April 2, 2018
The pope also baptized eight people into the Roman Catholic faith, including a Nigerian migrant who has been called a hero in Italy for foiling a robbery in Rome. Meanwhile, the Vatican will hold an exorcism training course for priests, as demands for the ridding of demonic possession have soared aroundÃâà...
Vatican News
April 2, 2018
We bring you glimpses of the emotions in and around St. Peter's Square as faithful and pilgrims from across the world reacted to the passing away of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2015. Today is the 13th anniversary of the death of Pope Saint John Paul II. Elected in 1978, John Paul II's 27-year papacy wasÃâà...
Patheos (blog)
April 2, 2018
But if Pope Francis used his authority to make this the Catholic position, it would still contradict centuries of Catholic teaching. Which would undermine the authority of other popes. Which would also undermine his authority to change the teaching! And in dismissing the teachings of Augustine, Aquinas, andÃâà...
The Guardian
April 2, 2018
If, and it's a big if, Pope Francis did say that hell does not exist, what might he have meant? To say that hell does not exist is clearly not a statement about geography or cosmology. Neither Francis nor any other sane and educated person believes that a space probe will come back with a report of heaven,Ãâà...
Crux: Covering all things Catholic
April 2, 2018
LEICESTER, United Kingdom - Pope Francis became “visibly upset” when the Archbishop of Dublin told him about the hundreds of children found buried at a Catholic care home in Ireland. Between 700 and 800 children were discovered buried in unmarked graves at a home for unwed mothers run by theÃâà...
Psychology Today (blog)
April 1, 2018
Controversy erupted this week with reports that Pope Francis denied the existence of hell. Quoted by an Italian journalist who is both a friend and frequent interviewer of the pontiff, Francis reportedly said that sinners who die without eternal salvation “are not punished” but that instead their souls simplyÃâà...
The Tablet
April 1, 2018
The same can be said for the other interviews he has given and the free-wheeling press conferences on board the papal plane. This is also this Pope's attempt move away from focussing on doctrinal purity, while the rhetoric of condemnation of previous popes is being replaced with a rhetoric of invitation.
BBC News
April 1, 2018
A Nigerian man dubbed Italy's "migrant hero" has been baptised by Pope Francis during an Easter service at St. Peter's Basilica. John Ogah, 31, was begging outside a supermarket in Rome last year when a masked thief armed with a cleaver tried to rob it. He held the man down until police arrived - andÃâà...
Meath Chronicle
April 1, 2018
Speculation is rife that Pope Francis is to visit Drogheda as part of his World Meeting of Families visit in August. ... Pope Francis is apparently well aware of Mrs McAleese's close associations with the Irish hierarchy, going back to her involvement as their representative at the New Ireland Forum in 1984, andÃâà...
New York Times
April 1, 2018
Pope Francis's persona belies a dictatorial penchant. He deals with challenges by removing those who disagree with him. The peremptory dismissal of members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for no apparent reason, is a case in point. His rigging of the Synod on the Family and dubiousÃâà...
Salt Lake Tribune
April 1, 2018
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Pope Francis lies down in prayer during the Good Friday Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, March 30, 2018. Pope Francis began the Good Friday service at the Vatican with the Passion of Christ Mass and hours later will go to the ancientÃâà...
The Independent
April 1, 2018
Good Friday is for Christians a day to dwell on the dark side of human existence, so it's ironic that, in 2018, the day saw a debate over Pope Francis's belief in hell. He was reported by an old journalist friend, Eugenio Scalfari, to have suggested that, at death, sinners simply cease to exist, while those whoÃâà...
Voice of America
April 1, 2018
Pope Francis presided over solemn Good Friday services amid tight security at Rome's Colosseum for the Via Crucis procession. Italian police and army soldiers were on high alert, with Holy Week coinciding with a spate of arrests of suspected Islamic extremists around Italy. Francis presided at a traditionalÃâà...
Valley News Live
March 30, 2018
explains Concordia College Religion Department Chair, Michelle Lelwica. Lelwica says she isn't surprised by this statement from the Pope. "I think this Pope, just knowing what I know about him, is always trying to get Catholics in particular, but all people to think deeper than these traditional religious ideasÃâà...
Vatican News
March 30, 2018
On Holy Thursday, the day in which the Church recalls the institution of the priesthood, Pope Francis shared a moment of communion with diocesan and religious priests serving in the diocese of Rome. Ten pastors of Roman parishes were invited to join the Holy Father for lunch, including one born inÃâà...
American Spectator
March 30, 2018
As Catholics headed into the holiest days of the year, they woke up to the headline, “Hell Does Not Exist, Says Pope Francis. ... As I wrote last year in The Political Pope, “While saying confidently that atheists can go to heaven, he has flirted with theological concepts suggesting that no one goes to hell.
Newsweek
March 30, 2018
Good Friday, a day of fasting and penance in the Christian faith, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The holiday, which lands on March 30 this year, is celebrated on the Friday right before Easter Sunday. For Christians, Good Friday marks the day Jesus was crucified and died at Calvary.
Catholic Herald Online
March 30, 2018
If Jesus and his truth are to become truly present in today's world, priests must do what Jesus did and be “street preachers,” going out to encounter and accompany sinners with tenderness and compassion, Pope Francis told the world's priests. Jesus “could have been a scribe or a doctor of the law, but heÃâà...
BBC News
March 30, 2018
The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis told a well-known Italian journalist that "there is no hell". The quote came in an article in Italy's La Repubblica daily. But the Vatican said "no quotations" in the article "should be considered as a faithful transcription" of the Pope's words. The Vatican said the articleÃâà...
Crux: Covering all things Catholic
March 29, 2018
The story of what happened when Pope John visited the prison is well known, and frequently retold in Italian literature and Christmastime broadcasts. One has to remember that this was before it was customary for popes to leave the Vatican and meet people in such settings, so there was a fair bit of anxietyÃâà...
Macleans.ca
March 29, 2018
... on the way to oblivion, as Collins documents in Absolute Power: How the Pope Became the Most Influential Man in the World, his absorbing account of how the papacy got from there to here. Through interrelated structural and conceptual changes unleashed during the Revolutionary era, the popes' hard,Ãâà...
CNN
March 29, 2018
His devoutly Catholic family had been set to see the Pope in Philadelphia that September when they found themselves in a hospital as Peter began chemotherapy. As the family watched the papal visit from his hospital room, someone from Make-A-Wish came in asking for Peter's wish. "Peter said, 'I wantÃâà...
The Times
March 14, 2018
The Vatican has been accused of censoring a letter from the former pope to disguise apparent differences of opinion between him and his successor Pope Francis. The row comes as a growing number of opponents of Pope Francis' liberal papacy depict his predecessor, the retired Pope Benedict, who nowÃâà...
Vatican News
March 14, 2018
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp. The President of the Bao'An Gong temple, Liao Wu-jyh, spoke on behalf of the members of his delegation and presented Pope Francis with a joint declaration bearing his signature and that of the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Bishop MiguelÃâà...
Malaysian Christian News
March 14, 2018
ROME: A senior editorial official at Vatican News, Fr Bernd Hagenkord explores how Pope Francis' joking description of himself following his election as “coming from the end of the earth” helps lead us to a better understanding of his background as an Argentinian Jesuit. Although the newly-elected PopeÃâà...
MyAJC
March 14, 2018
Bernice King was in Rome to receive an international prize recognizing women involved in nonviolence and peace initiatives. “I was both humbled and honored to sit with Pope Francis in his private library at Apostolic Palace where he expressed his great admiration for my father,” King said. “We discussedÃâà...
Vatican News
March 14, 2018
When Pakistan's Catholic bishops meet Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday, they are going to invite him to visit their country. Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karchi, made the declaration to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on Wednesday. Members of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference (PCBC)Ãâà...
Catholic News Service
March 14, 2018
A letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI to Msgr. Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communications, is seen in this photo released by the Vatican March 12. The retired pope defends Pope Francis in the letter, which was written as a promotion for a book series titled, "The Theology of PopeÃâà...
Prescott Daily Courier
March 14, 2018
In this Nov. 19, 2017 file photo, Pope Francis is served gnocchetti during a lunch with several hundred poor people, at the Vatican on World Day of the Poor. ... with a casual 'buonasera' (good evening) it was immediately apparent that Pope Francis's style would be different, folksier than that of other popes.
National Catholic Reporter
March 13, 2018
Vatican City — A native-Spanish speaker who grew up with Italian-speaking relatives in Argentina, Pope Francis has a striking way with words. Bringing a background in literary themes and devices with him to the papacy five years ago, the pope has shown himself to be a master of metaphor and allegory.
CNN
March 13, 2018
Signs that Jorge Bergoglio would be different, which led 1.2 billion Catholics to wonder: What kind of Pope would this obscure archbishop from Argentina turn out to be? When the Vatican sent him a first-class ticket to 2013's papal conclave, he traded it in for coach. While most cardinals took limos to VaticanÃâà...
National Catholic Reporter
March 12, 2018
I recall Butler's comments in advance of Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 trip to the U.K., when she said of him: "Does he look any different than a Charles Taylor or someone ... Still, in the introductory segment, the images of contemporary popes start with Pius XII, then John XXIII, and then jumps to John Paul II.
