The Vatican’s most influential woman, French nun Nathalie Becquart, is on a global mission to bring the Pope’s decision-making process closer to the laity. Being able to celebrate Mass isn’t the only way people can undertake leadership roles in the Church, she says. That global mission has led her to Australia to hear what Australian Read more
The pope’s interview last month with America, the Jesuit journal, was a textbook example of why the Vatican does not want the pope doing interviews. The pope poked the Russian bear in the nose, gave a convoluted response to why women cannot be priests and even had a muddled response to a question on racism Read more
When the Vatican Christmas tree and nativity scene were unveiled on Saturday, Pope Francis reminded the faithful to “stay rooted in Jesus Christ” during the holidays. “The tree teaches us about our roots, the nativity scene invites us to contemplation. Don’t forget these two human and Christian attitudes,” he said. “The tree, with its lights, Read more
At the very start of his pontificate nearly ten years ago, Pope Francis distinguished himself from his most recent predecessors by adopting an informal and colloquial way of communicating. He showed early on that he had no intention of merely reciting prepared speeches or sticking to the stodgy old Vatican script pertaining to protocols and Read more
Every summit of bishops called by Pope Francis has been ripe with expectations about the possible reforms — and novelties — that it might introduce in the over 2,000-year-old institution. The pope’s latest effort, the Synod on Synodality, now underway and continuing through the end of 2024, has already fomented ardent debate on some of Read more
Around 40 percent of the people in Amothic, South Sudan are eating leaves off trees to survive. Some of the children have diarrhoea from eating them. Half the village is eating their seed stocks too, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NCR) reports. While NRC is helping around 100,000 South Sudanese, those eating their seed stocks means Read more
Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, has accused Pope Francis of “misogynistic drivel”. McAleese’s comment followed an interview Francis had with a US-based Jesuit magazine last month. Women are not being deprived by being denied the right to become priests, he told America magazine last month. Emailing Francis via the Vatican, McAleese pulled no punches in Read more
Amidst Italy’s falling birthrate, groups helping Italian families must give joyful witness and lobby hard for family life, Pope Francis says. “We are living in a serious demographic winter, and we must react to it with all our force, with our work, with our ideas,” he said as he welcomed Italian Forum of Family Associations Read more
The Vatican has opened a new investigation into a disgraced cardinal’s alleged spying on Pope Francis. Becciu is already on trial on charges of financial mismanagement and corruption. However, on March 17, Becciu testified in the Vatican Court that he was innocent of the embezzlement, abuse of power and witness tampering charges. He said he Read more
Pope Francis had some suggestions for the International Theological Commission (ITC) when they met at the Vatican last Thursday. More women Francis suggested that the prestigious ITC could consider including more women in their group. Not because it’s the ‘done thing’ according to current fashion, he added. Rather, Francis suggests, women bring a different intellectual Read more