Catholic Church - Page 17

Pope Francis urged Christians to reject a secularized version of Christmas Wednesday, and to place Jesus Christ at the core of the festivities.

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis on Wednesday said his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, is “very sick,” and he asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff so God will comfort him “to the very end.”

The bishop of Sokoto, Nigeria, denounced the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari in his Christmas message Sunday, insisting that Buhari’s legacy of nepotism and corruption will leave the nation in far worse shape than when he took office in 2015.

Pope Francis noted Monday that Christmas is followed by several feasts of early Christian martyrs, providing a healthy antidote to the superficiality that sometimes marks the season.

Two churches in the cities of Bordeaux and Paris were attacked, with the latter seeing the vandals write far-left slogans on the doors.

Pope Francis told members of the Roman Curia Thursday that he and they are in “greater danger than anyone else” because they are besieged by the “well-mannered devil.”

Top Catholic says Christmas carols should not be rewritten to suit fleeting political ideas in a message to the protestant Church of England.

Pope Francis laid out his economic vision Monday, insisting that there are no “free workers” without labor unions.

The Vatican defrocked pro-life priest Father Frank Pavone this week for what it claimed were “blasphemous” social media posts and alleged disobedience to his bishop, but he has vowed to continue exposing abortion, Democrats, and “the Swamp.”

Pope Francis has denied rumors that he had “given it” to the conservative Catholic Opus Dei group when he demoted its leader from bishop to simple priest.

Pope Francis has revealed in an interview released Sunday that he signed a letter of resignation in case of health impediments years ago and delivered it to the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Leaders of the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Europe have launched a joint Christmas appeal for peace in Ukraine, urging the aggressors to “stop the hostilities.”

The U.S. bishops have denounced the systematic aggression against the Catholic Church by Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, while calling for the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez.

The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis has decided to give three fragments of the Parthenon marbles held in the Vatican Museums back to Greece.

Pope Francis has compared the war in Ukraine to the coronavirus pandemic, lamenting that there is no vaccine for the “virus of war.”

Pope Francis has offered an analysis of the coronavirus pandemic in which all the negative fallout came from the disease itself rather than the human response to the problem.

Pope Francis urged vigilance against the snares of the devil Wednesday, especially when he dresses as an angel.

Pope Francis is urging Christians to spend less on Christmas this year and to send the savings to the people of Ukraine.

The government of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega has finally brought formal charges against a bishop it has been holding since August 19, accusing him of “conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the nation” and “propagation of false news.”

Bologna Cardinal Matteo Zuppi declared Tuesday that immigration is no longer an “emergency” in Europe, a situation that calls for gentler migration policies.

ROME — Pope Francis offered a dire vision of the future Monday, asserting as bad as things are now there are signs worse things are coming.

Russia’s foreign minister has eliminated the Vatican as a possible venue for peace negotiations following comments by Pope Francis that offended Moscow.

Pope Francis urged boys and girls to pray for children “forced to live the terrible and dark days of war” after his Angelus address Sunday.

The official press agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions has denounced the mass arrests, imprisonment, and “reeducation” programs imposed on participants in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the Vatican not to place Ukraine and Russia on the same plane as if both share responsibility for the war.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila has denounced attempts by the mainstream media to pin a recent shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs on the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis employed his strongest rhetoric to date Wednesday in condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine, tying it to the attempted extermination of the Jewish people during World War II.

Pope Francis railed against hypocrisy Sunday, urging his hearers to live authentically and take off their masks.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has provoked a series of collateral crises around the world, Pope Francis asserted Friday.

Pope Francis requested prayers Friday, or at least “good vibes” from those who do not know how to pray or do not believe in God.

“We are gravely disappointed that the misnamed Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate and continue to call for its rejection,” wrote the chairman of Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth in a statement Thursday.

The Holy See’s website was shut down for many hours Wednesday by a cyber-attack after the Vatican offended both Russia and China in past days.

A leading African cardinal said last weekend that religious liberty is “under threat” in the West where there is an “implicit bias against Christianity.”

A Chinese government representative declared this week that he was “not aware” of the demotion and relocation of a Catholic bishop in violation of the 2018 Sino-Vatican accord on the appointment of bishops.

Pope Francis asserted this week that real Catholics reject polarization in a spirit of embracing and harmonizing differences.

The Russian government has protested Pope Francis’s latest comments on the war in Ukraine, in which he claimed that the “cruelest” soldiers are not Russian but outsiders like “the Chechens” and “the Buryati” who fight on the Russian side.