As the plane carrying Pope Francis to Washington, DC, nears Andrews Air Force Base on Sept. 22, American TV likely will be full of breathless references to “Shepherd One” being on approach, “Shepherd One” touching down, and, eventually, the pontiff descending the steps of “Shepherd One.” It’s not often that a mere two words manage Read more
One of Pope Francis’ favorite novels is “The Betrothed” by Alessandro Manzoni. It is about two lovers whose longing to marry is thwarted by a cowardly and morally mediocre priest and a grasping nobleman. A good simple friar shelters the suffering couple. Then a plague hits the country, reminding everyone of their mortality and vulnerability, Read more
Pope Francis is part of the way through his much-anticipated visit to Cuba and the US, which he is visiting for the first time. He is following in the footsteps of his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who visited Cuba in 2012 and expressed his opposition to the US trade embargo. Now Cuba and the Read more
In an historic address to a joint session of the US Congress, Pope Francis challenged US lawmakers and the nation to heal the “open wounds” of the world. The 45-minute address by Pope Francis on September 24 was the first time a Roman Pontiff had addressed this body of US lawmakers. The Pope’s speech featured a Read more
Pope Francis appeared to take aim at Cuba’s communist regime in comments at a Mass at Havana’s Revolution Square on Sunday. The Pontiff told the crowd that “service is never ideological”. Speaking in a plaza dominated by a towering portrait of revolutionary Che Guevara, the Pope told the crowd they should “serve people, not ideas”. Read more
A global network of Catholic women has called on male prelates to include more female experiences and voices in discussions at the synod on the family. A collection of 40 short essays by Catholic women, titled Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table, is to be launched in Rome on October 1. Pope Read more
Pope Francis wants the process for way the Church identifies and appoints bishops reviewed. The Pope has asked his so-called C9 international council of cardinals to do this. He wants them to look particularly at the qualities needed in a bishop today. The council met with the Pope from September 14-16. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Read more
Pope Francis is putting up a Syrian refugee family from Damascus in a Vatican apartment, aides revealed last week. The Christian family is the first of two that the Catholic leader has promised to find space for in the Vatican’s two parishes. This is part of a broader Church effort to help shape Europe’s response Read more
A Catholic congressman is to boycott Pope Francis’s address to the US Congress later this month because of the Pontiff’s views on the environment. Paul Gosar from Arizona said he would boycott the address on September 24, because he believed it would mostly be about climate change. “ . . . When the Pope chooses Read more
Senior Vatican officials have voiced discontent with the way recent changes in Church law on annulments was handled. In a seven-page dossier, obtained by German newspaper Die Zeit, the officials express concerns over an absence of consultation on the matter. They complained that no curial departments, including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Read more