Pope Francis has issued a new law specifying that a bishop’s negligence with regard to clergy sexual abuse can lead to removal from office. In a motu proprio released on Saurday, the Pope empowered several Vatican dicasteries to investigate such bishops and initiate processes of removal, subject to papal approval. In a preamble to the Read more
Manchester United’s new manager José Mourinho is lending his voice to the character of Pope Francis in an animated film about Our Lady of Fatima. Portuguese production company Imaginew said Mourinho will be the voice of the Pontiff in four languages – Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian, the Catholic Herald reported. These are “the languages Read more
Pope Francis has exhorted priests not to see people who approach them for spiritual help merely as “cases” to be handled. In a series of reflections for priests who had come to Rome as part of the Year of Mercy celebrations, the Pope said: “Mercy gets its hands dirty.” Francis said he had heard many Read more
Pope Francis has signed the statutes for a new “mega-dicastery” in the Vatican for laity, family and life. The Pontifical Councils for Laity and for the Family will become one dicastery, also a pontifical council. The new body should begin its work on September 1, but it is still unknown who will head it. Francis Read more
Pope Francis has said that up to this point in his papacy he hasn’t thought about resigning. The Pope was asked about the subject by two young YouTube stars at a function at the Vatican on Sunday. He was asked if he has ever considered resigning because he finds the demands of his job too Read more
When Pope Francis saved a dozen refugees from a Lesbos detention centre and took them to Rome it was ‘like a miracle’, one of them said. A month on, what is their new life like? Ramy Alshakarji was still coming to terms with the idea that at last he was safe – he was leaving Read more
An Italian journalist says parts of Pope Francis’s recent family exhortation drew on writings by an Argentine prelate who once clashed with the Vatican. Writing in L’Espresso, Sandro Magister compared passages from Amoris Laetitia with passages from two articles by Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández. “The resemblance between the two is very strong,” the journalist wrote. Read more
The apostolic exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Laetitia, is a landmark document not only for the pontificate of Francis, but also in the history of modern papal teaching. This is not simply because of its approach to the hot-button issues of marriage and sexuality, but especially because of its vision of the Church. Read more
Christians have a mission to convert all Muslims, according to one of Pope Francis’s senior aides. Cardinal Kurt Koch, who leads ecumenical relations for the Vatican, made the comments at an interfaith meeting in the United Kingdom, the Catholic Herald reported. Cardinal Koch also said that Christians should not try and convert Jews and should Read more
In a new papal ruling, bishops who don’t consult the Vatican before approving would-be religious orders in their dioceses risk having that approval stopped. Before the latest ruling, bishops were required to consult with the Vatican about such matters, but there were no consequences if they didn’t. The new ruling, issued in the form of Read more