An Argentine priest hitched a ride on Pope Francis’ popemobile during the pontiff’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday after the pope recognized him in the crowd. The pope thought he had heard a familiar voice when someone shouted out “Holy Father, Happy New Year” as he was driven through a crowd of Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Pope Francis’
Pope baptises unmarried couple’s child in Sistine Chapel
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
Pope Francis Sunday, baptised the child of an unmarried couple during a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, reports Christianity Today. The unnamed parents and their child took part in the traditional Baptism Of The Lord mass with 31 others, commemorating the day St John baptised Jesus. Pope Francis has been critical of priests who refuse Read more
More surprises as Pope Francis names 16 new cardinal electors
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
Pope Francis has dispensed with tradition and ‘tripped the globe’ to announce sixteen new cardinal electors and because of age, three cardinal non-electors in a consistory to be held on February 22. In making his selection, the first of his pontificate, Pope Francis has chosen only 6 Europeans (including 4 Italians). Other cardinal electors come Read more
Pope calls for fresh approach to a generation that is changing
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
Pope Francis is asking the Catholic Church to re think the way it approaches a generation that does not fit the traditional family mould. Noting that the make-up of families is changing he in particular mentioned outreach to the children of gay couples, and divorced parents. “On an educational level, gay unions raise challenges for Read more
Popular voice in the Capitol? It’s the Pope’s
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Shortly before leaving the Capitol for the holiday recess, Senate Democrats gathered behind closed doors to lay out an agenda for 2014. When the majority leader, Harry Reid, exhorted colleagues to “deal with the issue of income inequality,” the talk took a spiritual turn. “You know,” declared Senator Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent, who caucuses Read more
Visits to the Vatican roughly tripled last year
Monday, January 6th, 2014Visits to the Vatican roughly tripled last year as people flocked to see Pope Francis. Officials said more than 6.6 million people attended Vatican events led by Pope Francis since his election in March 2013, noting that there was a significant increase in visitors compared to the previous year. Roughly 2.3 million people visited Vatican Read more
Vatican denies pope is open to recognition of gay civil unions
Monday, January 6th, 2014The Vatican on Sunday denied Italian media reports that recent comments by Pope Francis signalled his openness to the legal recognition of same-sex unions in Italy. Francis, in a conversation with leaders of religious orders published by a Jesuit journal on Friday, said the Catholic Church had to try not to scare away children who Read more
Pope Francis has not abolished sin
Monday, January 6th, 2014The Vatican felt compelled on Tuesday to deny that Pope Francis had “abolished sin”, after a well-known Italian intellectual wrote that he had effectively done so through his words and gestures. The singular exchange began on Sunday when Eugenio Scalfari, an atheist who writes opinion pieces for the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, published an article Read more
Out of the blue, Pope Francis leaves New Year voice message for nuns
Monday, January 6th, 2014On New Year’s Eve at 11:45 am, Pope Francis called up the small community of the Carmelite nuns of Luccena in Cordoba, Spain, but they didn’t pick up the phone. Their once-large community has now dwindled to a mere five nuns, three of which are from Argentina, which is also the pope’s home country. He Read more
Pope: Church must not create selfish little monsters
Saturday, January 4th, 2014
Pope Francis has said men studying for the Roman Catholic priesthood should be properly trained or the Church could risk “creating little monsters” more concerned with their careers than serving people. Describing the formation of future priests as a work of art, not a police action, the Holy Father urged the major superior of priests Read more