The Vatican press office says a document it is releasing about the papacy could have far-reaching consequences for relations between Christian churches. They say the hot-off-the-press document will be released sometime today, New Zealand time. The document Entitled “The Bishop of Rome – Primacy and Synodality in Ecumenical Discussions and Responses to the Encyclical Ut Read more
Catholics must understand financial systems in order to influence fiscal policy positively, says Pope Francis. During a meeting on 3 June with participants of a sustainable finance conference, the Pope emphasised the need for Catholic social teaching to critique, comprehend and improve financial structures. The Church’s social teaching to serve as a “compass” in this Read more
Reports concerning Pope Francis’s homophobic comment keep hitting headlines. Francis reportedly used a homophobic word when he discussed the question of gay candidates for priesthood with Italy’s bishops on May 20. The official Church position is that they should be barred from ministry if they are sexually active. Francis’s word for “sexually active” was reported Read more
The Key So much of Pope Francis’ pastoral teaching is summed up in the very first sentence of the recent Declaration on Human Dignity issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her being, and this dignity prevails in and beyond Read more
Like his predecessors, Pope Francis dedicates his Wednesday general audiences at the Vatican to thematic cycles. He recently devoted 20 audiences (December 2023 to May 2024) to the theme of vices and virtues. “The spiritual life of the Christian is not peaceful, linear and without challenges; on the contrary, Christian life demands constant struggle,” says Read more
Pope Francis has reportedly encouraged a 22-year-old gay man to continue to pursue a vocation to the priesthood after he was not accepted into a Catholic seminary. Just days after the Vatican issued an apology for the pontiff’s use of a slur in reference to seminarians who identify as gay, Francis reportedly responded to an Read more
Migrants and their pastoral care throughout the Pacific and Oceania was a central discussion point last week. In Wellington that is, during the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania (FCBCO) meeting. Catholic Archbishop of Wellington Paul Martin and the Wellington Archdiocese hosted the three-day meeting. In recent decades migration has become the key to Read more
One curious feature of the modern papacy is the informal, but very real, PR safety net which grows up almost spontaneously around every pontiff. It’s forged in part by the Vatican’s own official communications channels, but even more so by outside commentators and media platforms heavily invested in selling a given pope’s story to the Read more
In a May 21 interview with CBS, the Holy Father confirmed the exclusion of women’s diaconal ordination from the scope of discussion at the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this authoritative decision, and it can be legitimately reduced to the pope’s personal conviction formed in prayer, which Read more
The full ambivalence of Pope Francis’ pastoral approach to the issue of homosexuality has come into view, first during his television interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, and now with the news that he told the Italian bishops’ conference that gay men should not be allowed to enter the seminary. Is this the same pope who, early Read more