The pastoral practice of the church is based and rooted in times gone by and we need to change it, Pope Francis has said. Speaking to bishops, cardinals and pastoral care workers, Thursday, at the International Pastoral Congress, on the World’s Big Cities, Pope Francis urged them to be creative in order that everyone in Read more
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Consecrated Life, I am writing to you as the Successor of Peter, to whom the Lord entrusted the task of confirming his brothers and sisters in faith (cf. Lk 22:32). But I am also writing to you as a brother who, like yourselves, is consecrated to God. Together let us Read more
A haggard and lonely Europe risks irrelevancy if it doesn’t recover its founding values, Pope Francis told European leaders in Strasburg on Tuesday. The Holy Father called on Europe to re-found itself by drawing, in part, on its Christian Legacy. “Where is your vigour?” he put to 750 members of the European parliament. “Where is that Read more
Pope Francis said while dialogue with the Islamic State may seem a long way off, he would never close the door. Admitting dialogue with the likes of the Islamic State may seem impossible, the Holy Father replied, “I never count anything as lost. Never. Never close the door. It’s difficult, you could say almost impossible, but the Read more
Pope Francis directly helped uncover three priests and a lay person in Spain suspected of child abuse. Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said that Pope Francis has taken a special interest in uncovering these men. It “was precisely the pope who has been most belligerent in bringing this case to light”, he said. Gerard O’Connell in Read more
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the former leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, helped to orchestrate a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign which led to the election of Pope Francis, a new biography claims. The choice of the largely unknown Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics came as a Read more
A three hour meeting, Monday, between Pope Francis and the heads of department discussed proposals for Vatican Curia reform. The Vatican released little information about the meeting; Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, reminded journalists that meetings between Pope Francis and the department heads were six-monthly events. Lombardi however confirmed the meeting took three hours Read more
Last Friday morning, as I waited with my wife to greet Pope Francis after the 7 am Mass he says each day at the Santa Marta guesthouse, the strangeness of it all hit me. I was presenting a biography of the Pope to the Pope, and it had the bold title of The Great Reformer. Read more
Pope Francis is demanding dignity, not charity, for the world’s poor and hungry. His comments came on Friday at a UN conference on nutrition hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The Pontiff condemned speculation in food commodities and greed, saying they undermined the global fight against poverty and hunger. “It is also painful to Read more
Catholic Church leaders in the Philippines will seek to limit expenses for Pope Francis’ January visit to the country to US$1.5 million. The move is in response to concerns from the Vatican over the potential cost of the visit in a country where millions of its citizens live below the poverty line. Cardinal Luis Antonio Read more