Tag: Vatican

In the days since Egyptian security forces cleared the demonstrations of pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Islamists have attacked, looted, or torched 63 Christian churches. According to the Associated Press, the Islamists have used their attacks on dozens of Coptic

Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority has become a favorite target for Muslim Brotherhood supporters and other radical Islamists across the country in the wake of the military’s decision to clear supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi from their Cairo sit-ins this morning. No

In his first major overseas event since being elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church in March, Pope Francis has kept a whirlwind schedule at World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But when he gets back to

A huge crowd of 1.5 million Catholics greeted Pope Francis on Brazil’s Copacabana beach after the pontiff toured a notorious Rio slum to defend the cause of the poor. Latin America’s first pope was confronted with starkly contrasting images of

In in his first public Mass at the 2013 World Youth Day global gathering of Roman Catholic young people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Pope Francis hit upon already-familiar themes of his papacy. He urged Christians to have hope and

Not long after Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in March, Vatican watchers around the world realized that, as big news as the papal conclave was, Pope Francis’s true debut on the world stage might come in July

There’s a fresh set of scandalous tales circulating around the Vatican. Depending on whom you ask, it’s either the infamous “gay lobby” scrubbing the personnel records of a misbehaving priest to protect one of their own, or it’s opponents of

A headline in the tech blog Mashable a few days ago proclaimed “Pope Francis to Forgive Your Sins via Twitter,” setting off a flurry of other headlines about how following the pontiff via his @pontifex address could get you absolved

Several Islamic groups on Friday demanded the recall of the Vatican’s first envoy to Malaysia, describing him as an “enemy of the state” after he supported the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the

Pope Francis will return to his native South America for the first time since being elected pontiff in March, for the 28th World Youth Day (WYD), which will be held in Rio de Janeiro from July 22 through July 28.

The Vatican has announced that it has frozen assets belonging to Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, a senior Italian cleric who is suspected of money laundering and corruption. This action is part of an investigation that could extend to other account holders

Vanity Fair Italy named Pope Francis its “Man of the Year” Wednesday, saying that the Roman Catholic leader’s first 100 days as pontiff had already made him one of the world’s top leaders. Newsmax reports that the 76-year-old former cardinal

In a word, no. But it is also not the Vatican equivalent of a New York Times op-ed. Nor is it merely a scholarly dissertation, to be read only by theologians, who might write their own scholarly dissertations on it,

Pope Francis’ first encyclical, released on Friday, is actually, as he himself described it, the work of “four hands.” A joint effort by himself and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the papal letter, entitled Lumen Fidei which, in Latin,

With reports that a second miracle, attributed to the influence of Pope John Paul II, has been approved by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, it is anticipated that Pope Francis could canonize the former pontiff before the end

According to Vatican News, Syrian Catholic priest François Murad was killed on Sunday, June 23rd in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in a convent where he had taken refuge.  Though the circumstances of his death are not fully known as yet,

Just days after Pope Francis established a Commission to investigate the Vatican Bank, a prominent Vatican accountant has been arrested on charges of attempting to smuggle €20 million ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland. According to Catholic World News, Monsignor

Vatican Radio reported Wednesday that Pope Francis has set up a Pontifical Commission that is charged with drawing up an “exhaustive” report of the status and activities of the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR). The Commission consists

A funny thing happened on the way to a Vatican concert last Saturday night: Pope Francis never showed up. The popular pontiff had Italian media aflutter when he decided to forgo a classical concert, an event that was part of

In the modern world of gender politics, sexual proclivities and personal identity are often conflated, frequently on purpose, for political or social reasons. But the Roman Catholic Church holds the view that a person’s human dignity and intrinsic worth as