Pope Francis will declare Popes John Paul II and John XXIII saints on April 27 next year. The announcement was made on Monday during a meeting with cardinals. The Associated Press reported that analysts have said the decision to canonize the two popes together was aimed at unifying the church because each has his own Read more
Are we moulding Pope Francis into an image and polishing him to a high gloss, that we might better see ourselves reflected in him? Are we treating him as we would a god? Read more
As a practicing Catholic working in the media, perhaps the five most frightening words I hear are “Pope Francis gave an interview.” They aren’t scary because of anything Pope Francis actually says; the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio spent decades choosing his words carefully as an Argentine priest and then prelate of Buenos Aires, emphasizing the Read more
Pope Francis on Tuesday called on countries to protect migrants as he condemned the treatment of refugees as mere “pawns on the chessboard of humanity.’” The pope’s statement came in a message for the Vatican’s next “World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” set for January 19. “Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard Read more
As a Jesuit, I was overwhelmed by the interview of Pope Francis by my Jesuit brother, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, editor of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal based in Rome. Congratulations to Antonio, my former colleagues at America, and the 14 other Jesuit publications for this extraordinary exclusive. That all of these Jesuits could keep Read more
Pope Francis called for a global economic system that puts people and not “an idol called money” at its heart during a speech on Sunday in the Sardinian capital of Cagliari. Addressing about 20,000 people, the pontiff said that his parents had “lost everything” after they emigrated from Italy and that he understood the suffering Read more
Pope Francis on Saturday confirmed the appointment of new officials in the Roman Curia. American Archbishop Augustine Di Noia was named an “adjunct secretary” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he previously served as under-secretary from 2002 to 2009. Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, previously the prefect of the Congregation for the Read more
A report by the Associated Press said Pope Francis’ call to focus less on divisive social issues poses a challenge for US bishops. Catholic leaders in America have adopted a more aggressive style of defending the faith in recent years. They said they had to because society was moving so far from traditional beliefs on Read more
The Catholic Church will “fall like a house of cards” unless its leaders are able to strike a “new balance” between their political activities and their spiritual mission, Pope Francis said in an unprecedented 10,000 word interview. The pope declared himself to be “a sinner” in the literal sense, adding that it is “the most Read more
The mainstream media is all atwitter made by Pope Francis’s incoming secretary of state about the possibility of eliminating clerical celibacy. Is this a sign of things to come? Is this yet another indication of Pope Francis “breaking with tradition”? Is this an indication the mind of Pope Francis himself? Is it a major new Read more