At his weekly audience at the Vatican on June 23, Pope Francis had a special visitor: Spider-Man. Well, not quite. Mattia Villardita, was dressed as the superhero—his childhood idol. It helps that he channels many of Spider-Man’s most noteworthy qualities by bringing joy to children in need. Mr. Villardita was invited to sit in the Read more
Permanent deacons whose ministry focuses on service to the poor and hurting is an antidote to clericalism within the church. Their service illustrates that “to love is to serve and to serve is to reign,” Pope Francis says. Francis made the comment when he met most of the Diocese of Rome’s 137 permanent deacons, their Read more
Several inmates from one of Rome’s prisons met Pope Francis at his home on Monday. The group (pictured along with their accompanying escort), met Francis at Casa Santa Marta early in the morning before visiting the Vatican museums. With them, they brought a basket of bread they had baked earlier in the day to give Read more
Pope Francis has written declining German Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s 21 May letter of resignation. In his letter Francis says he agrees with Marx that Catholic leaders cannot adopt an “ostrich policy” in the face of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. “If you are tempted to think that, by confirming your mission and not accepting your Read more
Catholics who prefer the traditional Mass in Latin may find their days of worship in that language and style are numbered. The Congregation for the Divine Worship is rumoured to be preparing a document modifying some of the provisions of Benedict XVI ’s July 2007 Summorum Pontificum, specifying the circumstances in which priests may celebrate Read more
There are many ideas about what synodality means, says Pope Francis. “It’s not a walk in the park”. It is “an ecclesial journey that has a soul, which is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no synodality,” he explains. Francis is promoting a synodal process that involves the whole church. It will Read more
Pope Francis is inviting all Catholics to a seven-year journey to become totally sustainable. The “predatory attitude” toward the planet must end, he says. The new initiative, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, is “a seven-year journey that will see our communities committed in different ways to becoming totally sustainable, in the spirit of integral ecology,” Read more
An image of the pope kissing a man’s hand while other men look on has been portrayed as a moment involving Rockefellers and Rothschildslies and the Pope “Do you see it now? The Vatican is run by the Jesuits, the Real Mafia of this world, but even they have Overlords…” But the man whose hand Read more
By now, you’ve probably heard that Pope Francis postponed the upcoming synod on synodality for a full year, from October 2022 to October 2023, and ordered every ecclesiastical jurisdiction and single member of the faithful to participate in an expanded “preparatory” process. If the incongruity of making the Church more synodalitous by papal diktat ever Read more
Pope Francis expressed gratitude, Friday, for the cease-fire in the Holy Land. “My thoughts turn to the events taking place these days in the Holy Land,” Francis said, referring to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “I thank God for the decision to halt the armed conflicts and acts of violence, and I Read more