Pope Francis’ “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada began with an impassioned apology, setting the scene for the 6-day pilgrimage. The apology is only a first step towards reconciliation. The pilgrimage began Monday, July 25. The first act on the Canadian “penitential pilgrimage,” was the return of two pairs of children’s moccasins on 25 July. “I am Read more
Pope Francis’ first act on his Canadian “penitential pilgrimage,” July 25, was the return of two pair of children’s moccasins. The shoes were not part of the Vatican Museums artefacts but were given to him when Canadian Indigenous visited Rome in March 2022 “The first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of Read more
Pope Francis has arrived in Canada on what he calls a “penitential” trip. The Vatican says the trip’s theme is “walking together”. Francis hopes to reconcile with Canada’s indigenous people for the abuse indigenous children suffered at mostly church-run residential schools. Hundreds of possible grave sites have been found at the schools. Catholic missionaries are Read more
Pope Francis is scheduled to fly to Canada on Sunday for a weeklong visit to meet the country’s Aboriginal peoples who were victims of colonization and various types of abuse at Catholic-run residential schools. He has described the trip to North America as a “penitential pilgrimage”. But who exactly are these Indigenous people of Canada Read more
Pope Francis says Catholic media communicators need to use extra care and make educational efforts in their work. They need to find ways to combat situations where media can “become places of toxicity, hate speech and fake news,” he says. His message for members of Signis, the World Catholic Association for Communication, makes his position Read more
Pope Francis cracked down July 16 on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed in Read more
It’s always been a challenge to read the Vatican tea leaves in the idiosyncratic pontificate of Francis, the first Jesuit pope in the history of the Catholic Church and the first Roman Pontiff in more than a century who had never before worked or lived in Rome. But in the last several months it’s basically Read more
Scalpers selling tickets to the Mass Pope Francis will celebrate in Edmonton are trying to make a buck off a free event, say those responsible for organising the Pope’s programme while he’s in Canada. There’s also a real risk that some people might trick others into buying non-existent tickets, organisers say. “It is sad and Read more
The Holy See Press Office on July 13 announced that Pope Francis has appointed three women to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops. The role of the dicastery is to help the pope in the appointment of Catholic bishops for Latin-rite dioceses outside what the Vatican considers the mission territories, for example, Australia. Bishop appointments to Read more
Women will be given more top-level positions in the Holy See and will be allowed to help select bishops, Pope Francis has announced. The role of women in the Vatican hierarchy was one of the many Church and international topics the 85-year-old pontiff discussed in an interview last Saturday. A new constitution for the Holy Read more