Posts Tagged ‘L’Osservatore Romano’

Heaven doesn’t need saints canonized, people do, cardinal says

Thursday, May 6th, 2021

The Catholic Church’s proclamation of new saints demonstrates that it is possible for men and women to live holy lives and that God is present and at work in the world, said the prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. “It’s useful on earth, not for heaven,” said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect, when asked, Read more

160-year-old Vatican daily newspaper succumbs to coronavirus

Thursday, March 26th, 2020

The Vatican daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper”, suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will Read more

Editor and all Vatican women’s magazine editorial board resign

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine Women Church World have resigned after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men.” In the final editorial and open letter to Pope Francis, released to news media ahead of the magazine’s 1 Read more

Media attention helps Church

Thursday, August 16th, 2018

Lucetta Scaraffia, who edits the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano women’s supplement, has published an editorial defending the media’s role in unlocking the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Scaraffia says the “implacable and pitiless” nature of the coverage is “born from disappointment.” In her view, in societies affected by the sexual revolution, this disappointment Read more

Vatican strikes back at Amoris Laetitia critics

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

The Vatican is striking back at critics of Pope Francis’s document on family life, titled “Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love)”. Wednesday’s L’Osservatore Romano carried a front page essay by Italian Catholic historian and politician Rocco Buttiglione. He insisted that the document is in line with teaching by previous popes on divorced and civilly remarried Read more

Pope picks Protestant to edit Argentine Catholic paper

Friday, July 15th, 2016

Pope Francis has chosen a Protestant theologian to edit an Argentine version of L’Osservatore Romano. Marcelo Figueroa is a personal friend of the Pope’s. Beginning in September, Mr Figueroa will edit an Argentine publication that combines material from the weekly Spanish-language edition of L’Osservatore Romano with local content. The publication is an attempt to ensure that the Pope’s Read more

Vatican paper launches feisty women’s magazine

Friday, May 6th, 2016

The Vatican’s semi-official newspaper has started a women’s magazine, which is not averse to taking a critical stance over women’s role in the Church. The new monthly magazine “Women-Church-World” was launched this week by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state. His department oversees L’Osservatore Romano, in which the new magazine has previously Read more

Vatican paper slams Texas event that depicted Mohammed

Friday, May 8th, 2015

The Vatican’s newspaper has criticised an event in Texas featuring caricatures of Islam’s prophet Mohammed, at which there was violence. On Sunday, two gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, allegedly shot and wounded a security guard near the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest at Garland, Texas. The two gunmen were subsequently killed by local police. Media Read more

Vatican paper remembers actor Robin Williams

Friday, August 15th, 2014

The Vatican’s newspaper has acknowledged actor Robin Williams, who took his own life and was found dead on August 11. In a brief article, L’Osservatore Romano called the comedian and actor an “unforgettable clown with a heart of gold”. Williams had recently been battling severe depression , according to his publicist. He was known to Read more

Vatican paper slams culture that led to Thai surrogacy row

Friday, August 8th, 2014

A Vatican paper says the alleged rejection of a Down Syndrome baby in a surrogacy case is a result of a culture that turns babies into consumer products. Surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua from Thailand is caring for seven-month-old Gammy after an Australian couple chose his healthy twin sister, but abandoned him. The couple, David and Read more