A Christian who chooses to follow his own moralistic ideology “has lost the faith” and is no longer a disciple of Jesus, Pope Francis has declared. Worse still, the attitude of ideological Christians frightens other people and chases them away from the Church, he said. “When a Christian becomes a disciple of an ideology, he Read more
Sprinters took over the main avenue leading to St Peter’s Square on October 20 in a relay race hailed by Pope Francis as a reminder of the spiritual values of sport. The race came at the end of a week in which the Vatican announced the formation of its own cricket club and an Argentinian Read more
Pope Francis spoke English in public for the first time on October 18, when he sent a video message to a conference on evangelisation in the Philippines. On the same day he met representatives of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and praised their translation of liturgical texts. In the video message to Read more
It has been a big year for the Jesuit Order around the world with the election of one of their own, Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina, as Pope Francis. It has also been a big year for the Jesuits in Australian politics, culminating in the election of Jesuit-educated Bill Shorten as leader of the opposition Labor Read more
Statements by Pope Francis that he wants to see greater roles for women in the Church have sparked speculation that he might appoint a woman cardinal. After an unnamed Jesuit was quoted in Spain as saying “It’s something that Pope Francis has thought about before”, Italian and American media picked up the idea. Cardinal Timothy Read more
The new Vatican Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, has officially assumed his new role, but he could not attend the hand-over ceremony because of emergency surgery. The reason for the surgery was not made known at the time, but a Vatican source later said the 58-year-old archbishop — seen as the key person to Read more
Pope Francis has condemned the waste of food as a symptom of a “throwaway culture” and said hunger and malnutrition should never be considered “an inescapable fact of life”. He called for greater efforts to build a worldwide “culture of encounter and solidarity”. The Pope’s words came in his annual message for World Food Day, Read more
If a Las Vegas casino had opened a betting line eight months ago on the likelihood that within a year the most popular figure on the planet would be the pope, one has to imagine the odds would have been awfully long. Yet that’s basically today’s situation, as Francis continues to garner acclaim and admiration Read more
Pope Francis has said he suffers when he sees women in a role of servitude in Church organisations, instead of the servanthood to which all Christians are called. “I suffer — speaking truthfully! — when I see in the Church or in some ecclesial organisations that the role of service that we all have, and Read more
More than 100,000 people came to St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on October 13 to see Pope Francis consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which had been brought to the square the evening before, took centre stage as the Holy Father made an Read more