The Pope’s advisory council of cardinals is to focus on the possible decentralisation of the Church’s structures. In a press release on Saturday, the Vatican announced this and gave an update on the council’s meeting last week. In their next meeting in February, the so-called C9 council, which advises the Pope on Church governance, will reflect Read more
Last week I was in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio, where I’ve been speaking at First Friday clubs for several years. My wife Shannon, who handles my speaking calendar, is very loyal to these folks, and insisted that I offer them something new and original. In response, I did something that’s basically an act of madness: Read more
Pope Francis has urging the international community to act soon on the agreement reached at the Paris climate change talks. At his Angelus address on Sunday, the Pope congratulated world leaders on reaching the agreement. Implementing the plan, he said, will require “a concerted and generous commitment on the part of each one”. The Pope Read more
Pope Francis has opened the Jubilee Year of Mercy by calling for a Church that always puts mercy before judgement. In a Mass at St Peter’s Square on December 8, Francis said the holy year is a gift of grace. “How much wrong we do to God and his grace when we affirm that sins Read more
Pope Francis was hailed around the world as a “messenger of hope” during his historic visit to Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic. The visit to the three African countries was replete with gestures of reconciliation and peace. He pushed all the right buttons on religious liberty, climate change and reforms to the annulment process Read more
A prelate has suggested that strident criticism of Pope Francis might be grounds for excommunication under canon law. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, suggested such criticism could be seen as akin to “physical violence” against the Roman Pontiff. This carries a penalty of excommunication. But US canon lawyer Read more
Pope Francis has ordered an unprecedented external audit of the Vatican’s wealth, including St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The audit will look at financial investments, real estate and cultural assets. It will be performed by Price Waterhouse Coopers and will start immediately, said Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ. Assets that would never Read more
“The world is on the verge of suicide if we do not radically change the way in which we deal with problems linked to climate change and the current development model.” Francis said this in his conversation with journalists on board the flight from Bangui to Rome. The Pope also responded to a couple of Read more
The writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton, the famous British writer, Graham Greene, and our current pope, Pope Francis, have a lot in common. Merton died in 1968 – from accidental electrocution whilst touring in Thailand, and Greene died peacefully in 1991. Both men were converts to Catholicism. Like Pope Francis, Merton engaged in interfaith Read more
Pope Francis has described God as “both father and mother”. In an interview with the magazine Credere, the Pope explained his decision to call a Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Jubilee Year might help the faithful to recognise “the maternal dimension of God”, the Pope observed. He explained that he was speaking of “the tenderness, typical Read more