Working together for the common good during the pandemic is crucial or we’ll emerge worse off, Pope Francis told the crowd at his general audience last Wednesday. Focusing his talk on the common good, which is a central theme in the Church’s social teaching, he said: “A virus that does not recognize barriers, borders or Read more
Belarus has renewed its 2016 invitation to Pope Francis to visit the country. Vladimir Makei, the Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs, reiterated the invitation during a meeting with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, who is the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States. Makei told Gallagher, who was visiting Belarus, that the invitation remained open despite tensions Read more
I can see the headlines now: “Papal encyclical condemned as sexist.” Groan! Last month, Italian Bishop Domenico Pompili revealed that Pope Francis is preparing a new papal encyclical — the third of his papacy and his first in five years — to focus on the economic, environmental and spiritual change that is necessary to address Read more
The youth ministry is an important feature of the Church and the real meaning of “synodality” is well understood by young people, Pope Francis says. Young people have lessons they could teach the Church about synodality, Pope Francis says. “They have asked us in a thousand ways to walk alongside them — not behind them Read more
Pope Francis will sign his new encyclical next month in Assisi. Focusing on what the world should look like following the Covid-19 pandemic, Francis is calling the new encyclical “Brothers and Sisters All” (“Fratelli Tutti”, in Italian). The encyclical examines the social, political and economic obligations that flow from a belief that all people are Read more
Lack of prayerful discernment is the reason Pope Francis said no to the Amazon synod’s suggestion that the Catholic Church should allow priests to be married. The question of addressing a priest shortage in the Amazon by ordaining older, mature and married men (viri probati) from local communities was one of the issues raised at Read more
A lack of respect for human life from conception to natural death and a lack of respect for the environment are both signs of a person claiming power over something that is not theirs to control, Pope Francis said. “They are the same indifference, the same selfishness, the same greed, the same pride, the same Read more
Pope Francis is praying for constructive dialogue and respect for international law amidst rising tensions between Greece and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean. During his Angelus address on Sunday Francis said he “follows with concern the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.” Avoiding mentioning the nations involved, he prayed for the “instability” in the area. “I Read more
Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in public for the first time in six months on Wednesday, smiling and chatting as he re-emerged from the constraints of the coronavius lockdown. The audience, at which the pope announced a day of prayer and fasting for Lebanon, was held in the San Damaso courtyard of the Read more
The gospel we have just heard features Jesus giving a special ministry to Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church; I give you the keys of the kingdom, whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven”. From Read more