The synod on synodality could cause a schism in the Church, a leading conservative Catholic cardinal says. A new book, “The Synodal Process Is a Pandora’s Box: 100 Questions and Answers,” addresses the “serious situation” brought on by the synod, Cardinal Raymond Burke (pictured, centre) says. Pope Francis is risking confusion and even schism in Read more
Important characteristics for Christians include being open to change while firm in faith, says Pope Francis. But that is not the same as being rigid and unwilling to bend out of compassion for another. Speaking to a crowd in St Peter’s Square before reciting the Angelus on Sunday, he said God is love and “the Read more
Pope Francis keeps repeating that the upcoming synod is not a parliament. For him, the synod is not a forum for competing positions to debate each other with a goal of developing new policies or effecting structural changes in the church. Similarly, when Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council in 1962, he did Read more
A Vatican delegate has told a congregation from India’s Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church that they were either “with the pope or against him”. “Move away from the illegal Mass the archdiocese has been following, where the celebrant faces the people,” Archbishop Cyril Vasil (pictured) told the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese laity and priests at Mass last week. Read more
The Catholic Church is open to everyone, including the LGBTQ+ community, Pope Francis affirms. The Church has a duty to accompany gay people on a personal path of spirituality, providing that accompaniment is within the framework of the Catholic Church rules, he told reporters on the plane returning to Rome from World Youth Day (WYD) Read more
“There is space in the Church for everyone… Everyone, everyone, everyone!” Pope Francis encouraged the half-a-million young people who warmly received him on Thursday evening at Lisbon’s Edward VII Park to repeat this word numerous times. The Pope appeared revitalized and invigorated by the contagious enthusiasm of the girls and boys who, together with their Read more
At World Youth Day on Friday, politics and devotion met briefly. Crux reports on August 5 that during a semi-private meeting, a Russian Orthodox bishop expressed regret for the Ukraine war, thanking Francis for supporting the Ukrainian people. “I would like to thank you very much for all you have done for the Ukrainian people,” Read more
The Pope’s eyesight is not failing, the Vatican says. Observers had noted Francis set aside several prepared speeches at World Youth Day (WYD) in Portugal. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says there’s no cause to think the Pope’s eyesight is failing. Francis prefers to speak without notes, Brunei adds. It’s a pastoral preference. “The pope always Read more
Ten years ago on the flight back from his first World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis spoke these five simple words that reverberated around the world: “Who am I to judge?”. Then a relatively new pontiff, this was his comment in response to a reporter who inquired about a “gay lobby” in Read more
The Vatican City’s promoter of justice asked judges Wednesday to sentence Cardinal Angelo Becciu to more than seven years in prison, as he made closing arguments in the landmark financial crimes trial. But do prosecutors really have a case against Becciu? In his argument July 26, Alessandro Diddi spent the day focused on Becciu, the Read more