Pope Francis told thousands of children who gathered at the Vatican on Friday that he did not want to be the head of the Church before his election. Pope Francis, who has railed against “careerism” in the Catholic Church since being elected as its leader three months ago, said on Friday that he never yearned for the Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Pope Francis’
Turkey unhappy at Pope’s Armenian genocide comment
Tuesday, June 11th, 2013
Turkey’s foreign ministry has protested to the Vatican after Pope Francis referred to the mass murder of Armenians as “the first genocide of the 20th century”. The Pope alluded briefly to the Armenian genocide during a meeting with Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni of Cilicia. An estimated 1 to 1.5 million Armenians died Read more
The heresy that may help Pope Francis
Tuesday, June 11th, 2013
First of all, I would like to congratulate Pope Francis I on his election, becoming the first South American to head the Vatican. Although the Church has been having some serious trouble over the last decade with numerous scandals and harsh although often warranted criticism, I feel his election is an appropriate step in the Read more
US TV host claims Pope Francis is an atheist
Friday, June 7th, 2013Bill Maher, the atheist host of HBO’s “Real Time” show announced that he believed that Pope Francis is an atheist and because of that, it’s likely that the Vatican will attempt to kill the Pope first chance they get. Another display of just how little some people who comment on the church actually know about the Read more
Pope encourages work against sexual abuse
Friday, June 7th, 2013
The ongoing work of protecting young people from sexual abuse has received strong encouragement from Pope Francis. “This is important work; keep it up!” he said three times during a meeting with a participant in an international conference on the subject. The annual Anglophone Conference on the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Read more
Pope Francis happy to meet ‘wise’ atheist
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Pope Francis has expressed pleasure at meeting “a wise man” after a private audience with the Uruguayan president, Jose Mujica, an atheist. Mujica, a former guerilla fighter, has been described as “the world’s ‘poorest’ president”. He donates 90 per cent of his salary to charities, lives with his wife in a modest farmhouse instead of Read more
Culture of waste condemned by Pope Francis
Friday, June 7th, 2013
In his most powerful environment-themed address to date, Pope Francis has condemned the “culture of waste” and the economic system in which “men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption”. Speaking on World Environment Day, the Pope referred to the proper stewardship of the earth. “Are we truly cultivating and caring Read more
NZ Catholics invited to get up early to join world-wide holy hour
Friday, May 31st, 2013
On Sunday June 2 at 5pm, in Rome, Pope Francis will be presiding over a holy hour in St Peter’s, and the invitation has gone out for Catholics all over the world to join him in prayer. For Kiwis, it is a big call because 5pm Sunday in Rome translates in to 3am Monday June 3 in New Zealand. Read more
With Pope Francis, will the Church become just another charity?
Friday, May 31st, 2013
In June 1973 Juan Perón, the 77-year-old former Argentinian president, came home to Buenos Aires from exile in Franco’s Spain after an absence of 18 years. That same year Father Jorge Bergoglio of the Society of Jesus became the head of Argentina’s Jesuits at the age of 36. One day he would become pope. Perón Read more
Pope Francis will finish Benedict’s encyclical on faith
Friday, May 31st, 2013Pope Francis intends to complete an encyclical on faith that was begun by his predecessor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi confirmed that Pope Francis would complete the encyclical on the virtue of faith, but said it would be “premature” to guess when it would be completed. He denied a previous report Read more