The head of Vatican security says ISIS militants have threatened the Vatican, but there is no sign of any planned attack. The commander of the Vatican gendarmes, Domenico Giani, said security patrols of the Vatican perimeter are always on high guard. “There are not only the threats of the Islamic State, but also the risk Read more
Pope Francis is expected to canonise the parents of St Therese of Lisieux during the synod on the family in October. The canonisations of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin were announced by Cardinal Angelo Amato during a conference last month, according to a Catholic News Service report. “Thanks be to God, in October two spouses, Read more
An American cardinal has said Catholics should focus on Church teaching and not worry if they are confused by some of what Pope Francis says. Cardinal Raymond Burke, in an interview with the Rorate Caeli website, said Pope Francis himself doesn’t consider “Evangelii Gaudium” to be magisterial teaching. “I now say to people that, if Read more
Dublin’s archbishop has warned Church leaders not to use insensitive and over-judgemental language in debates on marriage and family. Speaking in a Lenten talk in Country Kerry, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s warning also extended to those he called the Church’s “self-appointed spokespeople”. “Where the Church argues from general principles, there is inevitably the feeling on the Read more
The Pope on his return flight from the Philippines to Italy suggested that when western help to third world countries is only available if they accept western ideas into a culture as “ideological colonization”. Gender ideologies from the wealthy Western world are being imposed on developing nations by tying them to foreign aid and education, Read more
A recently deceased homeless man who used to beg near St Peter’s Basilica has been buried within the Vatican alongside the graves of bishops and princes. A German-speaking family paid for the remains of Willy Herteller to be laid to rest in the Vatican’s medieval Teutonic Cemetery. Herteller, who died aged 80 in December, was Read more
Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi returned to Tonga on February 26 after what he described as a “humbling” experience in Rome. The Tongan cardinal was given his red hat by Pope Francis at the Vatican on February 14. On his arrival back in Tonga, Cardinal Mafi said he had not been given any permanent role Read more
An eminent American historian has written that Pope Francis is making change in the Church by yielding his power. In an interview with Macleans.ca, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills said Francis hasn’t asserted his power and to do so would be a “weakening” thing for him. “Instead, he’s yielding power constantly,” Mr Wills said. “He’s Read more
A coalition of royals, prelates and Catholic activists has appealed to Pope Francis asking him to hold the line on Church teaching regarding the family. According to a Breitbart report, their letter to the Pope focuses on the synod on the family in October. It expresses the signatories’ “fears and hopes regarding the future of Read more
The Mexican government has complained to a papal ambassador after Pope Francis warned against “Mexicanisation” in a letter. The Pope’s remark came in a private letter to a director of an Argentine NGO that tries to combat drug crime. Francis wrote, “I hope we’re in time to avoid Mexicanisation. I was talking to some Mexican Read more