Pope Francis has jokingly referred to a newly released book chronicling the American-led resistance to the papacy as a “bomb.” Now, in a new interview with Crux, Nicolas Senèze, (pictured) author of said book and Rome correspondent for the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, unpacks why he believes a small minority of American Catholics have Read more
For both admirers and critics, the personal authority and moral legacy of Pope Francis will be hanging in the balance this month. On Monday (NZ time) he will invite a gathering of bishops, men and women from religious orders, indigenous people and secular experts to think boldly about a remote but ecologically sensitive corner of Read more
Pope Francis’s advice to the Church’s 13 new cardinals is straightforward: “Proclaim the true word, not boring speeches no one understands.” Francis made the comments in his homily at the consistory Mass at St Peter’s Basilica last Saturday. All 13 of the new cardinals share Francis’s pastoral concerns at a time when conservatives within the Read more
An indigenous performance at a tree planting ceremony in the Vatican gardens on Friday celebrated the feast of St. Francis and the opening of the Synod of bishops on the Pan-Amazon region. The ceremony was organised by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network and the Order of Franciscan Friars Minor. Among those Read more
Pope Francis has chosen one of Italy’s leading anti-mafia prosecutors as president of the Vatican’s criminal tribunal. Giuseppe Pignatone’s appointment came two days after Vatican police raided the Apostolic Palace and seized documents and computers from the secretariat of state. The raid included searches of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF), which is tasked with Read more
At the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon region on Sunday the Pope Francis appealed to conservatives not to be bound by the status quo. The synod’s purpose will be to discuss the future of the Church in the Amazon. These discussions will include the possibility of married priests. Most of Read more
LGBT champion Fr James Martin, SJ met Pope Francis on Monday in a private audience in the apostolic palace inside the Vatican. They spoke to each other, seated at the table where the pope meets his high-level visitors. This is the third time Martin, who is known for his pastoral ministry to the LGBT community Read more
The Vatican is investigating a church group called the Heralds of the Gospel. It has appointed a commissioner, Brazilian Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, to take charge of the Herald investigation. A similar oversight was ordered for the Legionaries of Christ after a scandal involving its founder and an apostolic visitation. The Vatican says the commissioner’s Read more
A Canadian artist’s sculpture has been unveiled in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Francis as part of a Mass for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. “I wanted this artistic work here in St. Peter’s Square to remind everyone of the evangelical challenge of hospitality,” Francis said. The work in bronze and clay by Read more
Popes don’t suddenly become perfect, sinless human beings after they’re elected to papal office. Pope Francis says what being elected does do, is make a pope’s responsibilities greater and his prayer list longer. As far as sin’s concerned though, Francis says he’s basically the same person he was before he was elected in 2013. “The Read more