Vatican - Page 57

Despite his dislike of walls, Pope Francis declared Friday that “every country has the right to control its borders,” especially where the risk of terrorism exists. In an extended interview with the leftist Spanish newspaper El País, the Pope reaffirmed

Just days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Pope Francis has sent a message of support to the March for Life taking place in Paris, France, on Sunday.

Pope Francis has sent a personal message to U.S. President Donald Trump, offering congratulations on his inauguration day as well as prayers for his leadership.

This weekend Pope Francis received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Vatican and formally inaugurated the new Embassy of the State of Palestine to the Holy See.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned that peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Pope Francis put forward the case of a woman who would sacrifice her child through abortion in order to preserve her figure as a modern example of “idolatry,” or the worship of false gods.

Pope Francis will grant Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an audience at the Vatican on Saturday, the Holy See confirmed indirectly Tuesday by announcing arrangements for media coverage of the visit.

In a Sunday ceremony, Pope Francis urged women to feel free to breastfeed their children in the church, “just as the Virgin Mary nursed Jesus.”

A new Vatican document in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation has officially recognized Martin Luther as a “witness to the gospel,” reversing a centuries-old tradition.

In a letter to all the bishops of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said that the Church “weeps” over the sins of clerical sex abuse, while renewing a “complete commitment” to protect children so that these “atrocities” will never be repeated.

The Chinese Communist party has proclaimed the independence of the nationalized Catholic church from Rome, insisting that the church adhere to a program of “self-governance.” In a statement released after this week’s National Congress of Chinese Catholic Representatives in Beijing,

China’s Communist government has called on the Vatican to take “a more flexible and pragmatic attitude” in order to improve its relations with China.

A Catholic priest kidnapped by radical Islamists in Yemen last spring has personally appealed to Pope Francis for assistance in liberating him.

In his homily at Christmas Mass, the Pope said Christ is often met today with the same indifference that greeted his coming 2,000 years ago, whenever Christmas becomes a holiday centered on us rather than Jesus.

In a period when Pope Francis is being challenged by a group of cardinals for alleged ambiguities in his teaching, the pontiff has called for openness to debate and pushback in the Church.

A group of chefs surprised Pope Francis with the gift of a large birthday cake Wednesday, in a view to his upcoming 80th birthday on Saturday.

The Catholic Church has launched a new smartphone app helping sinners find the nearest available priest “in real time” to hear their confessions.

In its new guidelines on the formation of seminarians, the Vatican summons future priests to be “highly sensitive” to the “emerging planetary crisis” and to be active promoters of environmental concern in their future ministry.

As part of its yearly Nativity scene, the Vatican has included the spire from the Basilica of Saint Benedict in Norcia, one of the dozens of church buildings damaged or destroyed in recent Italian earthquakes.

A number of LGBT advocacy groups have slammed the Vatican’s new document on priestly formation that confirms a ban on admitting men to seminary who exhibit “homosexual tendencies.”

With Pope Francis’ approval, the Vatican has restated its ruling that men with “homosexual tendencies” cannot be admitted to Catholic seminaries.

Venezuela’s anti-socialist opposition has skipped a third meeting with the government mediated by the Vatican as the Socialist Party’s second-in-command chides Pope Francis for being “disrespectful,” in a sign that the Vatican’s role in attempting to bring an end to Venezuela’s woes has changed little.

The Pope says in an interview that media outlets that distort the news and spread slander risk falling into “coprophilia,” the psychological pathology characterized by an abnormal fascination with feces.

On the eve of the World AIDS Day, Pope Francis urged people to adopt “responsible behavior” to halt the proliferation of the disease.

A leading cardinal and papal adviser has said that many faithful Catholics are troubled by the state of affairs in the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, despite the pontiff’s popularity.

Martin Scorsese is rolling out his new film Silence to a select audience of some 400 clerics and their guests when it premieres in the Vatican Tuesday.

Pope Francis has decried what he sees as the “weak reaction” of governments to the climate crisis, while deploring “the ease with which well-founded scientific opinion about the state of our planet is disregarded.”

China’s most outspoken Catholic Cardinal has sharply criticized a potential Vatican deal with China’s Communist Party that would cede some Church decision-making to the atheist government.

Pope Francis sent a telegram to Cuban President Raúl Castro Saturday, expressing his “sentiments of sorrow” over the death of Raúl’s brother, former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the Catholic Church should be begging forgiveness from women for its “hard line” opposition to abortion, rather than offering forgiveness to women who have aborted their children.

Representatives of Venezuela’s socialist government reportedly abandoned talks with the opposition on Tuesday in a move one opposition member argued made a “mockery of the pope,” who vouched for the talks.

The Catholic Church has rolled out a new application for smartphones and tablets allowing the faithful to find the nearest Mass times or active confessional for the absolution of their sins.

Pope Francis has granted all priests of the Catholic Church the faculty of absolving the sin of abortion, which several media outlets immediately misinterpreted as a “relaxing” of the Church’s stance on abortion.

In a video interview to close the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis pulled no punches in his condemnation of abortion, calling it a “very grave sin” and a “horrendous crime.” Asked to recall especially memorable moments from the Year

“In God’s heart there are no enemies,” Francis said Saturday. “God only has sons and daughters. We are the ones who raise walls, build barriers and label people.”

Pope Francis created 17 new cardinals Saturday in the midst of an intensifying confrontation with conservative cardinals over perceived doctrinal ambiguities in the Pope’s teaching.