Pope Francis will meet with refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos on April 16 to show his support and solidarity for the migrants. Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press office, said the invitation for the pope to visit the island came from Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and Greek president Read more
Francesca Chaouqui, a public relations expert and former consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See, strongly denied that he leaked confidential Vatican documents to journalists. “I can assure you that no reserved documents ever passed from my hands,” Chaouqui said. “Never, never,” she during her testimony at Read more
Catholic bishops in Scotland urged the faithful to take a more active role in politics and not be “passive spectators.” The bishops advised Catholics to be more active in the upcoming elections for constituency Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) and regional MSP. “Catholics in Scotland should not simply be passive spectators but should be active Read more
France’s government has named a respected diplomat who is said to be gay as the country’s new ambassador to UNESCO, more than a year after he was nominated to become the ambassador to the Vatican — a job he never started, because the Vatican withheld its approval. Laurent Stefanini was confirmed Wednesday by France’s council Read more
The expanded use of an abortion-inducing drug in America will pave the way for the “destruction of even more innocent lives” say pro-life advocates. The new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, announced on 30 March, allow women to use RU-486, known generically as mifepristone and by its brand name Mifeprex – later into their Read more
The Vatican Secretariat for Communications has established a new bureau, entitled DotCatholic, to manage the new top-level internet domain by the same name. In 2013, the Vatican sought and won exclusive control of internet addresses that end in “.catholic”. (This top-level domain includes the use of “.catholic” in English, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian.) The new Read more
Pope Francis has called on parishes across Europe on Sunday to give donations to the victims of the conflict in Ukraine. The pontiff on Sunday announced that there will be special collections on April 24 in all European Catholic churches to “alleviate the material needs” of all who are suffering “the consequences of the violence” Read more
The Vatican’s new anti-abuse expert says Pope Francis is “not wavering” in his efforts to formulate anti-sex abuse policies for the Catholic Church. “If the pope was wavering, I don’t think he’d give the commission the support he’s been giving it,” said Teresa Kettelkamp, referring to the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Read more
The Vatican has launched an investigation into the funding of the restoration of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s apartment while he was Vatican secretary of state. Greg Burke, assistant director of the Vatican press office, said two executives from Rome’s Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital – former chairman Giuseppe Profiti and former treasurer Massimo Spina – are being Read more
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will release the much-anticipated document on Catholic family life on April 8. The document, the result of two back-to-back synods of Catholic bishops in 2014 and 2015, will be titled “Amoris laetitia, On Love in the Family.” Cardinals Lorenzo Baldisseri and Christoph Schonborn, alongside Italian lay people Francesco and Read more