The Pope’s new work, Let Us Dream, about which Austen Ivereigh, his collaborator, writes movingly in this week’s Tablet, was published on 1 December. So, with the caveat that the final work may be different from the excerpts I have read, it strikes me that it is characteristic of Francis’ best and least good aspects. Read more
It is just on year since Francis offered an inculturated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for Congolese immigrants. The Mass marked the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Congolese Catholic Chaplaincy of Rome. The Mass included traditional Congolese music and the Zaire Use of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Zaire Use). An Read more
Pope Francis is confident Catholics and Orthodox Christians will attain full communion. In a message to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I on Monday, Francis praised Bartholomew’s efforts to promote Christian unity. “We can thank God that relations between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate have grown much over the past century, even Read more
Pope Francis elevated 13 new cardinals on Saturday making the College of Cardinals more representative of the universal Church. Only 11 cardinals participated in the consistory in St Peter’s Basilica all having been in quarantine for two weeks and all wore face masks during the ceremony. Two new cardinals who were unable to be physically Read more
Above all, protecting life is about human ethics, says Pope Francis in a letter to Argentine anti-abortion protesters dated 22 November. Thousands of protesters took to Argentina’s streets on Saturday. They were holding Argentine flags and wearing the sky-blue scarves that identify them as anti-abortionists. The protesters also carried signs with slogans like “Save Both Read more
“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth…,” is a useful starting place for discussion of the influence of Pope Francis, who is proving to be a remarkably active and activist leader of the Roman Catholic Church. To modern readers, the Biblical quote (Exodus 21:24) may seem brutal, but the Old Testament Read more
In his new book Let Us Dream, Pope Francis recognises the success of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. “The countries with women as presidents or prime ministers have on the whole reacted better and more quickly than others, making decisions swiftly and communicating them with empathy,” he says. By way of Read more
A social media post claims Pope Francis has cancelled the Bible and proposed a new book to take its place. The post features a photo of Pope Francis and a screenshot of an article from April 2018, which is headlined: “Pope Francis cancels The Bible and proposes to create a new book.” Continue reading
A Franciscan cardinal-elect says he doesn’t want to be ordained as a bishop. He says he wants to continue being “simple priest” who is allowed to die in his Franciscan habit. Friar Raniero Cantalamessa (86) says he has asked Pope Francis “for a dispensation from episcopal ordination.” “The bishop’s job is to be a shepherd Read more
Culture warrior Catholics are falling prey to fundamentalism and bigotry says a Czechoslovakian academic. Warning the positive content of faith has become emptied, Father Tomáš Halík quotes the former Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Maria Martini; “I am not so much afraid of people who do not have faith; what disturbs me are people who do Read more