Rumours Pope Francis may be considering retirement have been given added fuel over his plans to attend a feast initiated by a 13th-century pope who himself resigned. Francis announced he would visit the central Italian city of L’Aquila in August. He will attend a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs Read more
Speaking openly on his views about the three most recent popes and other matters, Australian Cardinal George Pell says he “never really approved” of Pope Benedict’s resignation from the papacy. And, of the three most recent popes, Pell said he was closest to Benedict. His remarks came during “The Church Up Close” a webinar hosted Read more
A documentary being released on Benedict XVI’s 94th birthday states that his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, tried to dissuade him from abdicating the papacy. “Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus,” directed by Andrés Garrigó, will be released April 16 by Goya Productions. The film will focus on Benedict’s papacy, and his time as prefect of Read more
Tomislav Vlasic, a former Croatian Franciscan priest and Medjugorje spiritual advisor, has been excommunicated from the Catholic church. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) announced on 23 October they were throwing him out of the church. In 2009 Vlasic was accused of teaching false doctrine, manipulating consciences, disobeying ecclesiastical authority, and of Read more
Ecology, economy and politics have everything to do with evangelisation. They are not an alternative to it, Pope Francis says. The topics will be discussed at next month’s Synod of Bishops on the Amazon. Francis’s mainly conservative, traditional Catholic critics say these topics distract from evangelisation. “What do ecology, economy, and politics have to do Read more
How does Pope Francis’ thinking about ecology compare with that of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI? Catholic teaching on ecology prior to Pope Francis In 1971 the document Justice in the World, issued by the Synod of Bishops, represented a major step in the development of Catholic teaching on the environment; Barbara Ward-Jackson Read more
A transcript of Pope Francis’ comments about disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick only half-reported what he said, the Vatican Communications office says. The truncated transcript of Francis’s lengthy interview with Mexico’s Televisa reporter, Valentina Alazaraki, claimed Francis said he didn’t know anything about accusations of McCarrick’s sexual abuse before the accusations became public last year. What Read more
Why do Catholics kiss the pope’s ring? And why doesn’t he want them to? Protocols evolve and changes can be confusing, especially when most people only meet a reigning monarch (or pope) once in their lives. As we have seen in the past few days, old habits die hard, even when the pope is trying Read more
Pope Francis has appointed Malta’s Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna as adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Congregation is the Vatican office that processes sex abuse cases globally and examines appeals (in matters of grave offence). The announcement came as the Vatican prepares for a summit meeting of the presidents Read more
While Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò makes a number of accusations against former and current Vatican officials in his 11-page letter, there is only one he aims at Pope Francis. Vigano alleges Pope Francis knew former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had “corrupted generations of seminarians and priests” but nonetheless decided to lift sanctions. Sanctions that included “a Read more