Pope Francis - Page 31

Vatican Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli said on Italian television this week that a secret agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops is likely to be renewed this coming year.

Pope Francis employed some of his strongest environmental rhetoric to date Friday, insisting that the planet earth is “sick,” “wounded,” and “bleeding.”

Pope Francis called Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez Wednesday to “express his prayers and closeness to the Church and people of the United States in this moment of unrest,” the archdiocese reported.

Pope Francis decried the sin of racism Wednesday while also insisting that responding with violence and rioting is “self-destructive and self-defeating.”

Pope Francis urged Christians Sunday to work for unity and warned them of the triple threat of narcissism, victimhood, and pessimism.

Pope Francis said this weekend that the coronavirus pandemic should transform people’s lives for the better, opening the way for a “more Christian society.”

Pope Francis took advantage Sunday of his first public blessing since the coronavirus outbreak to give a shout-out to the “great country” of China.

Thousands of Catholics in the People’s Republic of China have followed the Masses live-streamed daily by Pope Francis in recent weeks thanks to WeChat, according to a glowing report by Vatican News.

Pope Francis urges Christian missionaries to bear witness to Jesus with joy and simplicity, while avoiding proselytism, elitism, isolation, and self-absorption.

Pope Francis heaped high praise on his predecessor Saint John Paul II in a videomessage to Krakow youth Saturday, calling the Polish pope “an extraordinary gift of God to the Church.”

Pope Francis commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the future Pope John Paul II on Monday, holding him up as an example of a “good shepherd.”

The Italian government permitted churches to reopen for public worship Monday but not without pages of meticulously worded rules, regulations, and restrictions.

The Vatican is pulling out all the stops to woo Beijing into full diplomatic relations, according to veteran Vatican journalist John L. Allen, Jr.

ROME — The Vatican has announced a special “anniversary year” to commemorate Pope Francis’s “prophetic” 2015 encyclical letter on the environment, Laudato Sì.

Pope Francis has compared displaced persons to Jesus Christ in his annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Pope Francis has asked people of all religions to join in prayer on Thursday, appealing to God for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis marked International Nurses Day Tuesday by calling on the nations of the world to invest more in healthcare coverage for their citizens.

Pope Francis launched an appeal Wednesday on behalf of migrant workers exploited during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Vatican’s secret deal with the Chinese government signed on September 22, 2018, has done nothing to improve the religious freedom climate of Chinese Catholics.

Pope Francis urged Christians Sunday to discern carefully between God’s voice and the devil’s voice in their lives, insisting that Satan “seduces” while God “consoles.”

The Vatican-sponsored Higher Committee of Human Fraternity has called for a common day of prayer and fasting, asserting that the world is “facing a great danger that threatens the lives of millions of people around the world due to the growing spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”

The Vatican’s office for interreligious dialogue released a message to the world Muslim community Friday, extending fervent best wishes for a “fruitful month of Ramadan.”

Pope Francis said Wednesday that an authentic Christian witness provokes anger and hatred in the worldly-minded, which explains the rampant persecution of Christians in the world today.

Pope Francis urged obedience to state lockdown measures Tuesday, just 36 hours after Italian bishops reproached the government for refusing to allow public worship.

Pope Francis prayed Sunday for people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus lockdowns and can no longer support their families.

Pope Francis warned of loan sharks who are exploiting the poverty created by the coronavirus lockdown to make money off the vulnerable.

Human beings have despoiled the earth, sinned against the earth, and “its response will be very ugly,” Pope Francis said Wednesday in a message for Earth Day 2020.

Pope Francis issued a severe indictment Wednesday of humanity’s failure to care for the planet, as environmentalists commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Earth Day.”

Pope Francis has urged Catholics not to get used to video-streaming the sacraments, saying it can lead to a disembodied, “gnostic” spirituality.

Cardinal George Pell said it is widely believed by senior Vatican officials that his prosecution in Australia for historic sex abuse was linked to his fight against financial corruption in the Vatican.

Pope Francis has proposed a basic “universal wage” as a remedy for the economic hardships day laborers face during the “unbearable” coronavirus lockdowns.

Pope Francis proposed an interesting dichotomy Monday between opting for people or the economy as the world begins to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis called for relaxed international sanctions during his Easter message, after receiving a request from Iran officials asking him to intervene.

Pope Francis devoted much of his Easter blessing on Sunday to the coronavirus pandemic, insisting that now is a time for unity, solidarity, and hope.

Never has humanity been so united as now by a coronavirus that “knows no borders,” the preacher of the papal household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, said on Good Friday.

The parents of a young girl who was murdered contributed one of the Good Friday meditations for this year’s commemoration of Christ’s Way of the Cross led by Pope Francis.