A Peruvian newspaper has dumped articles by a local cardinal after it was found they contained unattributed statements by popes. El Comercio stated it would not publish any more articles by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, who is Lima’s archbishop. The newspaper, described as the paper of record for the Peruvian establishment, deleted the articles from Read more
Pope Francis returned to the canonisation rite reformed by Pope Paul VI for the canonisation of six saints on Sunday. The move by the Pontiff is a reversal of the “reform of the reform” instituted by Pope Benedict. “The Rite of Canonisation introduced on October 21, 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI and which was largely based on the Rite Read more
Paul VI oversaw the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 worldwide church meetings which brought the Catholic Church into modern times. The parallels between Francis and Paul, and the divisive issues both men confronted, are significant. Here are five things to know about Paul VI. Continue reading
(RNS) As he wraps up a Vatican meeting marked by sharp debates over sex and morality, Pope Francis on Sunday will honour one of his most controversial predecessors by beatifying Pope Paul VI, who is most famous for reaffirming the Catholic Church’s ban on artificial contraception. Beatification puts Paul one step shy of formal sainthood. The move Read more
Vatican officials have approved what they believe to be a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Paul VI, putting the pontiff who served for much of the 1960s and ’70s one step closer to possible sainthood. The Vatican’s Medical Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints said the healing of an unborn Read more
For the faithful it (birth control) is a sad and agonizing issue, for there is a cleavage between the official teaching of the Church and the contrary practice in most families. — Former Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church quoted in What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O’Malley. Recalling that Thursday was Read more
While pondering last week’s sapphire anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) and the continuing controversy over the so-called “birth control encyclical” throughout both Church and society, I came across a striking passage in an essay by Polish Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, written shortly before his death in 2004. “Increasingly the institution Read more
Pope Benedict has withdrawn to Castel Gandolfo while his successor is chosen. But few know that the papal summer residence of almost 400 years has a curious history, serving as a hideout for Jews, delivery ward and target for paparazzi. In the late evening of Aug. 6, 1978, a heavy iron chain was pulled across Read more
The Vatican Insider reports that tired and weary Pope Paul VI gave serious thoughts to stepping down when he turned 80. Paul VI had gone as far as working out how the retirement would happen, sharing the process with his most trusted aide, Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, whom he was about to appoint as archbishop of Read more