Before he dies or retires, Pope Francis needs to make changes in the process of electing a new pope to avoid the possibility of a deadlocked conclave. Popes John Paul II and Benedict made innovations in the election process to deal with such an eventuality, but they only made matters worse by not anticipating the Read more
Holiness is open to everyone and does not consist of a few heroic gestures but of many small acts of daily love, Pope Francis told 45,000 people gathered at the Vatican last week. The reason for the massive outdoor gathering was the pope’s official proclamation of 10 new saints. It was the Catholic Church’s first Read more
Pope Francis has changed the Church’s regulations to allow religious brothers who are not priests to lead their religious communities with Vatican permission. In a “rescriptum ex audientia” issued May 18, the pope said that the Vatican congregation overseeing religious orders can, in individual cases and at its own discretion, grant permission for non-priest religious Read more
Members of the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches are among the Catholic Church’s “valued traveling companions”, says Pope Francis. Speaking to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission (ARCIC) last Friday, Francis said he hoped that Anglicans would contribute to the two-year initiative leading to the Synod on Synodality in Rome in 2023. “For this common journey Read more
We need to use the past as a source of inspiration while moving forward, instead of wanting to go back to the way things were in the past, says Pope Francis. It’s not Christian. Wanting to go back in time is different from drawing inspiration from one’s roots in order to move forward with Christ. Read more
Pope Francis’ recent “mini-interview” on the topic of LGBTQ Catholics provides some of the building blocks for a re-imagined ministry to gay people. “A ‘selective’ church, one of ‘pure blood,’ is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect,” the Pope explained in a handwritten reply to questions from Fr James Martin, a Jesuit priest Read more
War is creating a new unity between the various Christian Churches in Ukraine, Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk told the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity last Friday. It also poses two big challenges to the global Church. War is everyone’s responsibility “First, there is a need for a new reflection on the social doctrine of Read more
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference’s Council for Young People is making plans to send delegates to World Youth Day (WYD) 2023. They have received the go-ahead from the bishops and are now on a countdown to the big event. Although the Covid epidemic delayed the international get-together for a year, Pope Francis has confirmed Read more
Pope Francis said he wants LGBTQ Catholics to know that God is a father who “does not disown any of his children.” The pope’s comment came in response to a question asked by Jesuit Father James Martin, a prominent catholic priest involved in gay ministry. Martin posed three questions to the pope for the America Read more
On the path of these catecheses on old age, today we meet a biblical figure—and old man—named Eleazar, who lived at the time of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes. He is a wonderful character. His character gives us a testimony of the special relationship that exists between the fidelity of old age and the honour Read more