Pope Francis will open the academic year at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in Rome.
In a last-minute change, he will replace Cardinal Robert Sarah who had been scheduled to open the new year.
The news of Francis’s s attendance comes just weeks after he controversially hand-picked two prelates — Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia and Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri — to head the Institute. Read more