The Vatican has said there is no reason for concern following speculation in Italian media that Islamic State jihadists are targeting Pope Francis. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi told the Catholic News Agency on August 26 that “this news has no foundation”. The rumours spread following an August 25 article in Italian newspaper “Il Tempo”, Read more
The moral authority of pontiffs has long been used to cajole world leaders into peace and reconciliation. Earlier this year, for instance, Pope Francis tried to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with a prayer service that included Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas. That tradition of papal peace-making lends even more weight to Read more
If you want to understand how Pope Francis is planning to change the Catholic church, then don’t waste time searching for clues in the charming, self-effacing press conference he gave on the plane back from South Korea on Monday. It’s easy to be misled by the Pope’s shoulder-shrugging interviews and impromptu phone calls. On his Read more
Pope Francis will visit Sri Lanka’s war torn north next January, amid accusations of ill treatment of people there by the nation’s Sinhalese majority. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said Pope Francis will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, 260 kms north of the capital. This is in the heart of Read more
Pope Francis has personally consoled the family of James Foley, the US journalist beheaded by Islamist militants in Iraq. Last week, Mr Foley’s parents John and Diane Foley told media of their gratitude for the Pope’s concern, expressed during a long phone call on August 21. “Pope Francis was so dear because he is grieving Read more
The first draft of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment has been completed, but the Pope says he needs to be certain about the science used. Speaking with reporters on his plane flight back from Korea, Pope Francis was asked by a German journalist about the upcoming encyclical. The Pope replied that he had spoken Read more
Pope Francis says the international community would be justified in stopping Islamist militants in Iraq, but no single nation should decide how to do this. On his plane flying back from Korea, the Pope had an hour long conversation with journalists. Francis was asked if he approved of US strikes against ISIS insurgents who have recently Read more
America provides below the full transcript of the pope’s press conference. The translation was made by Gerard O’Connell, its Vatican correspondent, who travelled on the plane with the pope. This is not an official translation. Q. During the visit to Korea, you reached out to the families of the Sewol ferry disaster and consoled them. Read more
The Vatican bank has written off US$20 million that was invested in an Italian television company at the behest of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Two years ago, the Vatican’s then-Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, ordered the investment in Lux Vide SpA, for “evangelisation”. The company makes family movies, including films about popes and a series about Read more
Pope Francis has asked people to join him in prayer following the deaths of two of his great nephews and their mother in a car crash. The Catholic News Service reported that a nephew of the Pope was also in a critical condition following the incident in Argentina. The dead were identified as the wife Read more