Vatican - Page 51

In a troubling new open letter to the media, the redoubtable Cardinal Joseph Zen, China’s highest ranking Catholic prelate, has accused the Vatican of “selling out” the Church by caving in to demands of the Communist leaders.

Pope Francis called for the condemnation of “fake news,” while urging journalists to break monopolies that present just one version of the story.

A disturbing new report indicates that the Vatican cut a deal with the Chinese Communist Party and subsequently asked legitimate bishops faithful to Rome to “step aside” to be substituted by members of the collaborating Patriotic Association.

There is a big difference between corruption and sin, Pope Francis contends, because the sinner can always convert but the corrupt person sees no need for conversion.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then the White House’s choice of image for its homepage—featuring President and Mrs. Trump in the Vatican Sistine Chapel—tells an entire story of the President’s commitment to religious liberty.

Pope Francis has promised to continue pressing for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, while supporting the special status of Jerusalem, independent of any state. He outlined his plan in a missive to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib.

A video gone viral on social media shows Pope Francis being hit in the face by a newspaper during his visit to Chile, fueling caption contests in the blogosphere.

During his flight from Rome to Chile Monday, Pope Francis distributed anti-war postcards to journalists featuring the photo of a Japanese boy and his brother after the 1945 U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, with his personal message: “the fruit of war.”

In a nuanced address Sunday for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis seemed to walk back earlier statements denouncing “xenophobia,” acknowledging instead that fears associated with mass migration are logical and justifiable.

A Vatican official has come out swinging in defense of Pope Francis’ insistence on the topic of immigration, accusing the Pope’s critics of being “obsessed” with national security and border control.

Bullying those who are weaker than we are is the fruit of original sin and “the work of the devil,” Pope Francis told the assembly gathered for his morning Mass on Monday.

Immigration must be “rational,” says the fiery Italian archbishop Luigi Negri, because uncontrolled immigration leads to the “crushing and extermination of our society.”

Pope Francis returned to the topic of immigration Monday, insisting that migrants have an obligation to respect the laws of their host country as well as its cultural identity.

Pope Francis took a strong stand on anthropogenic climate change Monday, telling a gathering of diplomats in the Vatican that global warming is a result of human action.

In a meeting with Catholic schoolteachers Friday, Pope Francis urged his hearers to instill in their students an “ecological education” that will lead in turn to an “ecological ethics.”

The reception of God’s mercy in dependent upon a person’s acknowledgement of his sins, Pope Francis said Wednesday, because “the proud person is unable to receive forgiveness.”

Despite a precipitous decline in church membership and participation, the German Catholic Church took in a record $7.1 billion in tax revenues during the year 2017, according to reports from German media.

In his new message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis has denounced those who question the wisdom of mass migration, accusing them of demagoguery and promoting xenophobia.

On the day when Christians commemorate the massacre of the ‘holy innocents’ by King Herod, Pope Francis prayed for “all the children who are not allowed to be born,” in reference to the millions of victims of abortion.

Pope Francis has once again come down hard against the secularization of Christmas, this time denouncing the falsification of the Christian holiday in the name of a supposed “respect” for non-Christians. “In our days, especially in Europe, we are seeing

A protester from the Femen activist group tried to snatch the statue of the Child Jesus from the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican Monday morning before being stopped by the police.

Pope Francis underscored the countercultural message of Christianity on Tuesday, a message which often leads to persecution and even martyrdom, as it did in the case of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen.

President Donald Trump took office this January with a promise to put America’s interests first in leading the nation.

A topless feminist activist allegedly tried to steal a statue of the baby Jesus from a Vatican Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Monday.

Pope Francis prayed for peace in the Holy Land during his annual Christmas message, urging a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

In his ongoing campaign against the commercialization of the Christian feast of the Nativity, Pope Francis is calling on Christians to liberate Christmas, saying it has been taken “hostage” by worldliness.

The Italian media are in an uproar over an alleged financial scandal involving Honduran Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga, a close friend and chief adviser to Pope Francis, who is accused of receiving over $40,000/month stipend while preaching a “poor church for the poor.”

There is no worse “curse” than not being able to support one’s family through hard work, Pope Francis told Vatican employees Thursday, insisting that employment safeguards the dignity of the person.

Pope Francis has once again taken advantage of his annual address to members of the Roman Curia to denounce Vatican officials who fail to fall in line with his ideas of reform for the Catholic Church.

In his homily at Tuesday morning Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the blessing of fertility and the dangers of going down the path of self-imposed barrenness as some modern nations have done.

Pope Francis has joined in the debate over the secularization of Christmas, insisting that if Jesus Christ is removed from the holidays, Christmas becomes just an empty feast.

In a powerful address to journalists over the weekend, Pope Francis defended the principle of freedom of the press, while calling on journalists to avoid the “sins” of fake news and sensationalism.

Leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday to discuss closer cooperation with the Catholic Church, particularly regarding issues of religious freedom and Christian persecution around the world.

In one of the least likely stories of all time, Facebook has vetoed a photo of the Vatican’s yearly Nativity scene, referencing its policy against “sexually suggestive or provocative” images.

The bishop of Des Moines, Iowa, is urging congress to pass the DREAM Act, insisting that the U.S. immigration system is “unjust.”

On Sunday the Vatican issued a communiqué appealing for cooperation with groups like the Arab League that are concerned with the recent decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.