The Vatican has released the full text of a letter from emeritus Pope Benedict XVI it had previously altered, but the contents of the letter have turned out to be worse than anyone suspected.
The Vatican under Pope Francis is consolidating its opposition to “gender theory,” the notion that maleness and femaleness can be separated from biological sex, according to veteran Vatican analyst John L. Allen, Jr.
Pope Francis reiterated traditional Catholic doctrine Wednesday, reminding pilgrims that no one in a state of mortal sin should receive Holy Communion.
The Vatican has come under heavy fire after admitting to doctoring a photograph of a letter from Emeritus Pope Benedict commenting on a recently published a series of books on the theology of Pope Francis.
A Chinese bishop of the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association has said that loyal citizenship must take priority over Christian faith.
One week after Italian elections saw a major shift toward anti-establishment parties, Pope Francis has decried politics based on fear of migrants.
The Vatican is looking to change people’s perspective on mass migration by highlighting positive stories to replace the negative accounts that dominate the media. Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, the co-secretary of the Vatican’s department for migrants and refugees, said that
Catholic Sister Catherine Rose Holzman “collapsed and died” Friday evening in a Los Angeles courtroom after testifying regarding Katy Perry’s lawsuit to take over a convent without the nuns’ approval.
Speaking in Rome on International Women’s Day, former president of Ireland Mary McAleese railed against the Catholic Church for its views on gay marriage and abortion, calling on the Church to eradicate the “toxic virus of misogyny.” A Church that
The Vatican has announced in a statement this week that Pope Paul VI will be canonized in Rome next October with Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was killed in 1980 while celebrating Mass.
At the five-year mark in the Francis pontificate, “signs of growing discontent” with the pontiff are emerging among American Catholics, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. While the vast majority of U.S. Catholics continue to
According to recent reports, the number of people in Italy calling on exorcists for assistance to fight demonic activity has tripled, reaching nearly a half million per year. In a recent interview, Sicilian exorcist Father Benigno Palilla told Vatican Radio
The following is an exclusive excerpt from Philip F. Lawler’s new book, Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock. In the passage below, Lawler’s describes a secret progressive lobby in the Vatican known in its circles as the “St. Gallen Mafia.” As Lawler explains, lobbying for the election of a pope is gravely forbidden under Catholic canon law and has a punishment of excommunication.
The Vatican’s doctrinal office has issued a new text asserting that Jesus Christ is not one savior among many but the “only Savior” of the world and of all humanity.
The prominent African Cardinal Robert Sarah said in a recent address in Belgium that by forgetting its Christian roots the West is committing suicide, “because a tree without roots is condemned to death.”
Italian media are in an uproar over a direct request from Pope Francis to one of the largest American Catholic charities to bail out a woefully mismanaged Italian hospital to the tune of $25 million.
The Holy Spirit cannot be contained, and works in all people, including non-believers, pagans and people of other religions, Pope Francis told members of the Roman curia following a Lenten retreat in the central Italian town of Ariccia on Friday.
Missionary Father Bernardo Cervellera says that the Vatican is yielding way too much in its forthcoming diplomatic deal with the ruling Communist Party in China, which risks being “limp.”
Lent is the time when we are called to stand up to Satan and “vanquish” him with God’s help, Pope Francis told pilgrims.
In a meeting with priests, Pope Francis announced that he would canonize Pope Paul VI later this year, and that he and emeritus Pope Benedict XVI are on the “waiting list” to become saints.
Several Catholic parishes in Austria offered special Valentine’s Day blessings for same-sex couples this year as part of a pastoral outreach to homosexuals.
Pope Francis has expressed his distress over the “tragic shooting” that occurred at a Parkland (FL) high school Wednesday afternoon, promising prayers for the eternal repose of the victims and healing for the injured and grieving.
A Hong Kong-based group of prominent lay Catholics said that a cyberattack originating from China has targeted their website opposing a forthcoming deal between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
For the sake of his peace of mind, Pope Francis says he doesn’t read websites that accuse him of heresy, which he attributes to “resistance” to necessary reforms in the Vatican.
A group of Catholics in Hong Kong has expressed “shock” and “disappointment” over the Vatican’s reported plans to enter into an agreement with the Chinese government over the appointment of bishops and the status of the state-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.
The communist-party controlled Global Times has lavished praise on a Vatican bishop who recently proposed China as the “best” model of Catholic social teaching, claiming he speaks the “truth” about life in China.
As part of its most recent clampdown on Christian churches, Chinese authorities have instructed priests and pastors to post signs on churches barring entry to minors.
In the wake of recent statements from German Cardinal Reinhard Marx opening the door to church blessings for homosexual couples, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has issued a fraternal correction, reminding his brother bishop that such an act is “morally forbidden.”
“Those who best realize the social doctrine of the church at this time are the Chinese,” Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo told the Italian newspaper La Stampa last Friday. “They seek the common good, subordinating all things to the general good.”
China expert Father Bernardo Cervellera has rebuked a top Vatican Bishop for his ridiculous “exaltation” of Chinese society, which has “made the Catholic Church a laughingstock.”
Many migrants wind up as slaves to human traffickers, thanks to a lack of “regular channels” of migration, Pope Francis said Wednesday
The chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has heaped high and unexpected praise on China, insisting that the atheistic communist regime has created the best model for living out Catholic social teaching today.
Pope Francis is under fire for “apparently” lying about not being fully informed that a Chilean priest he elevated to the role of bishop had allegedly “witnessed and took part in the sexual abuse of a child and covered it up,” said John Zmirak on Tuesday.
A Chilean lay Catholic group has sharply criticized Pope Francis for defending Bishop Juan Barros while claiming he had no knowledge of sex abuse charges involving a cover-up by the bishop.
On Monday morning, Pope Francis received the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for a 50-minute meeting in the Vatican, in the midst of heightened security, with thousands of extra police officers in evidence throughout Rome.
In a controversial new statement, progressive German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said he could envision blessing homosexual couples in the Catholic Church, but added that it would have to be up to the “pastor on the ground” rather than made into a universal rule.
In its guidelines for the use of gender-inclusive language, the University of Dayton proposes the elimination of the gender-specific terms of “husband” and “wife,” substituting them with “spouse, partner, significant other.”
We have the duty to “expose attempts to justify every form of hatred in the name of religion,” Pope Francis told a group of political and religious leaders Friday, insisting that all religions want peace.
Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, the Catholic archbishop of Kinshasa, has emerged as the lone leader speaking out against the abusive presidency of President Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Pope Francis has taken personal responsibility for recent measures taken by Vatican officials in China, which critics have described as a “sell-out” of the Catholic Church.
