The Vatican’s media spokesman has contrasted the styles of Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI. In a feature story published in National Geographic, Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, was asked how he felt about Francis. Fr Lombardi reportedly smiled and responded with one word: “Confused.” The Jesuit said Benedict would emerge from a meeting with Read more
The body of stigmatist St Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) will reportedly be exposed in St Peter’s Basilica for a week in February next year. A “Jubilee for Padre Pio’s prayer group” will take place on February 13, 2016, as the body of the Capuchin saint will be exposed in St Peter’s from February 8-14, Read more
When I was young the intellectual milieu was shaped by the need to come to terms with the unprecedented crimes and the general moral collapse that had taken place on European soil following the outbreak of great power conflict in August 1914 – Hitler and Stalin, the Holocaust and the Gulag, the concentration camps and Read more
Pope Francis has acknowledged that he has neglected the middle class and its problems. On a plane on his return to Europe from a three-nation South American visit, Pope Francis was asked by a reporter why he had hardly ever spoken about the problems of the “working, tax-paying” middle class. Francis offered a rare papal Read more
A former Church official jailed for his handling of abuse complaints is no longer housed at a US prison Pope Francis will visit later this year. Msgr William Lynn is serving a minimum three year sentence for endangering children in Philadelphia archdiocese. He had been held at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Center, while he appealed his 2012 Read more
Burger King has long been providing quick meals. Pope Francis has now used it for a quick change. With hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful waiting, Pope Francis needed a place to don his vestments to celebrate Mass at the Christ the Redeemer square in Santa Cruz. He had just spent more than 30 minutes Read more
Pope Francis has suggested that the most important task facing the world today is to protect Mother Earth. Speaking at the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on July 9, the Pope sounded a warning. “Time, my brothers and sisters, seems to be running out; we are not yet tearing one another Read more
Pope Francis has asked a congregation of more than a million people in Ecuador that they pray for a miracle to happen in October’s synod on the family. Preaching at a Mass on Monday at Guayaquil, the Pope said the point of the synod is “to mature a true spiritual discernment and find concrete solutions Read more
Angela “Lita” Boitano was standing about 50 meters away from her daughter Adriana when a car pulled up carrying a group of men who she later learned were Argentinian military policemen dressed as civilians. They grabbed 24-year-old Adriana and bundled her into the car before speeding away. Lita never saw her daughter again. It was Read more
Pope Francis begins a highly anticipated seven-day South American trip on Sunday that includes stops in Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. This visit has a special meaning to South Americans because Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is a native of Argentina, and is the first Latin American pope in the history of the Catholic Church. This Read more