Cologne’s cardinal, Rainer Maria Woelki, for a second time, has offered his resignation to Pope Francis. Woelki has been facing strong criticism for several months for his responses to allegations of child abuse in the Church. He chose to take a five-month break from his duties last September after the Vatican report accused him of Read more
Pope Francis, a lover of classical music, slipped out of the Vatican last month to visit old friends who run a Rome record shop and came away with a gift of a CD. Martinez-Brocal told Reuters the shop’s owners told him that they had become friends with the pope years ago when he was Cardinal Read more
Dear Pope Francis, ‘The purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, create a bright resourcefulness that will enlightened Read more
A suspended psychoanalyst-priest suspected of sexual abuse and banned from ministry crashed a Vatican conference on priesthood last week. Once called the “shrink of the Church”, Fr Tony Anatrella (81), registered for the event on his own accord. He joined around 400 participants in the Paul VI Hall to hear Pope Francis speak, attended the Read more
Ever since he was elected pope, Pope Francis has been trying to reform the Vatican Curia, the bureaucracy that is supposed to help the pope in his ministry to the universal church. He has had only limited success — not surprisingly, since every pope since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s has also Read more
Caring for the sick means healing the wounds of the soul as well as the body, Pope Francis says. “Care cannot be divided because the human being cannot be divided. We could — paradoxically — save the body and lose humanity” Francis says. Speaking in a video message released just before the 30th World Day Read more
A New Zealand-based theologian and academic says the vow of obedience religious people make needs redefining. Dr Rocio Figueroa made the comment after Pope Francis urged religious and consecrated women “to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude, Read more
Pope Francis has approved further clarifications regarding restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass in an effort to ensure that liturgical reform is “irreversible” and that liturgical celebrations adhere to the changes made after the Second Vatican Council. The clarifications, published Dec. 18, ban priestly ordinations and confirmations in the old rite and limit the frequency Read more
One of France’s most popular news and information magazines, Paris Match, has published a series of secretly taken photographs of Archbishop Michel Aupetit in the company of a young woman as part of an article titled “Lost for Love”. Pope Francis on December 2 accepted the 70-year-old Aupetit’s resignation as Paris’ archbishop after rumours intensified Read more
On Sunday, December 5, Pope Francis, visiting the Greek island of Lesbos, made an emotional pitch for European states to be more welcoming to foreign migrants. The pontiff called on Europeans to stop ignoring their suffering, insisting that Jesus “is present in the stranger, in the refugee, in those who are naked and hungry.” “I Read more