Tag: Vatican

“Continue along the path of voluntary and disinterested commitment,” Pope Francis encouraged international Christian service groups on Thursday. “There is so much need for a witness of the value of giving freely.” But, he warned, “the poor cannot become an

Cardinal George Pell, whom Pope Francis hand-picked as head of the recently created Vatican “Secretariat for the Economy,” revealed Wednesday that the Vatican’s financial situation “is much healthier than it seemed.” “In fact,” Pell said, “some hundreds of millions of

Addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday, Pope Francis recounting his recent trip to Turkey, summing up his meeting with state officials with the words: “We spoke of violence.” Francis said that on the first

In their meeting this weekend, Pope Francis told Turkish President Erdogan that what is needed now is a worldwide condemnation of Islamic terrorism “from the Muslims themselves.” They need to distance themselves from ISIS and say: “That is not who

In a recent interview, Pope Francis’ right-hand man for the reform of the Roman curia said we can expect serious downsizing of the offices that make up the Vatican bureaucracy. Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, the Honduran coordinator of the

Ever since Pope Francis said “Who am I to judge?” when asked about the possibility that some gay clerics may be working in the Vatican, many have assumed that Francis was effecting a major sea change in Vatican politics and

On Sunday Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew signed a joint declaration affirming their common commitment to full Christian unity as well as their support for suffering Christians in the Middle East. “We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without

The election of delegations from the US and Spain have Catholic conservatives at least slightly buoyed about their chances of winning the debate at the next and final Synod on family issues in the Catholic Church. The Extraordinary Synod that

In his historic trip to Turkey Friday, Pope Francis decried the “tragic” situation in the Middle East, above all in Iraq and Syria. “Everyone suffers the consequences of these conflicts, and the humanitarian situation is unbearable,” he said. “I think

The Pope traveled to Turkey Friday morning for a long-awaited three-day visit for meetings with religious and political authorities. But upon arriving at the presidential palace in Ankara, the Pope came out swinging, immediately focusing on Turkey’s soft underbelly: religious

Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker, Marzouq Al-Ghanim, met with Pope Francis at the general audience on Wednesday. Al-Ghanim said the visit had special importance, as it comes amid fears of terrorism “and reports by foreign media seeking to link terrorism to

It is beautiful “to think of Heaven,” said Pope Francis Wednesday. “All of us will meet there, everyone. It is beautiful; it gives strength to the soul.” At his general audience in St Peter’s Square this morning, before a crowd

The report rocketed around the Internet, trading in equal parts outrage and glee–outrage that the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF might be spiking tetanus shots of poor African women with a sterilizing vaccine, glee that they’d been caught. Doubts

Germany’s Catholic bishops are pressing ahead with reform of a controversial Church labor law that would allow employees who are in homosexual relationships or those divorced and civilly remarried to work in Church-run institutions. The bishops were to unanimously vote

In his address Tuesday morning to the European Parliament, Pope Francis issued a powerful plea to Europe to rediscover its religious roots and to place the human person at the center of society. “A Europe which is capable of appreciating

In a long-awaited decision, Pope Francis has tapped a conservative African cardinal, Robert Sarah of Guinea, as head of the Vatican’s liturgical office. This is the second nomination of a conservative African to an influential position in less than a

In its bid for formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, Beijing is now ready to offer a compromise in the contentious issue of how Catholic bishops are appointed in China. This represents an important departure from Beijing’s hardline position of

In what seems now to be a hoax, topless Femen protesters in Paris enacted the kidnapping of a Roman Catholic priest, creating a video that is coursing around the world. The new kidnapping video was posted on Twitter Friday and

Pope Francis said that the current economic crisis requires “initiative” to overcome the consequences of economic difficulties and unemployment, avoiding the temptations of “welfarism” and “indifference.” “We must renew working relationships,” Francis said in a video message released by the

American Cardinal Raymond Burke, recently demoted from the highest legal office in the Vatican, told a conference in Ireland that Catholic layman should write to the Pope to voice their opinions about the general Synod of Bishops to take place

No one can say Pope Francis doesn’t practice what he preaches. Even as he daily urges Christians to do more for the poor, he keeps finding ways to help them personally. This time the Pope has decided to raffle off

Rock legend Patti Smith, the “Godmother of Punk,” will join 17 other artists performing at the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert on December 13, 2014. The concert, at Conciliation Auditorium in Rome, a few steps from St. Peter’s, will be broadcast