In an unprecedented move, over a dozen US Catholic bishops convened at St Louis University in January for a private meeting aimed at deepening their understanding of transgender people. The meeting sought to understand the challenges transgender people face. It included discussions with transgender individuals, their families, theologians, medical professionals and church ministry workers. The Read more
Pope Francis on Sunday told Mongolian Catholics that only love can truly satisfy our hearts’ thirst. In his historic first visit to Mongolia, the pope spoke to about 2,000 people at Ulaanbaatar’s Steppe Arena and emphasised God’s presence in difficult times. Francis drew parallels with life in Mongolia, where about 30% of the land is Read more
Pope Francis returned from his brief trip to Kazakhstan, a country nestled between Russia and China, having failed to sit down with his Russian counterpart Patriarch Kirill or the delegation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. With the pope surrounded by empty seats in Kazakhstan, critics questioned the efficacy of his diplomacy of encounter and his Read more
Christianity is a relic that no longer neither speaks to many people nor affects the way they live their lives, Pope Francis said on Tuesday. He made the comments to Catholic Church clergy and lay leaders in St Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava during his pastoral visit to Slovakia. “The centre of the Church is not the Read more
The example of St Paul and his mission to Greece is a reminder to Christians to approach those of other cultures as people who know the love of God not as non-believers worthy of hostility and contempt. He is encouraging Christians to create bridges of hope rather than hostility. The comments were made by Pope Read more
Last week, Vatican Media interviewed Fr. Paulo Suess, a German priest who has served for decades among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. Fr. Suess is in Rome as an official of the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, and is regarded there as an expert on the region. The priest was asked about a Read more
Recently, I called attention to an article by Robert Mickens about Pope Francis’ recent address at a theological symposium in Naples. A few days ago, my colleague Joshua McElwee reported on the pope’s homily at the Mass celebrating the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Monday, the pope marked the sixth anniversary of his trip Read more
Critics and supporters of the Vatican’s latest document on gender and sexuality may find little common ground on the issue, but they can agree on this: The church needs to further a dialogue about transgender individuals. “Male and Female He Created Them: Toward a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education,” Read more
Recently, La Civiltà Cattolica published a transcript of the Holy Father’s conversation with the Jesuit community working in Romania. Pope Francis typically meets with the local Jesuits whenever he visits a country and the conversations really show the wisdom and the personality of this pope. For example, we know the first pope from Argentina likes Read more
Theological development comes through dialogue, Pope Francis said in a speech at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples. He also identified an aggressive defence of doctrine as unhelpful as it seeks to impose its beliefs on others. Fidelity to the Gospel “implies a style of life and of proclamation without a spirit Read more