A former papal nuncio to the United Kingdom says it is is “intolerable” that women can’t be ordained to the priesthood. Archbishop Don Pablo Puente, 88, announced during Mass he planned to write to Pope Francis about the matter the next day. The president of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, released a report of Puente’s statement, Read more
Pope Francis said Sunday he was late to his weekly Angelus prayer because he had been stuck in a Vatican elevator and had to be freed by firemen. “I have to apologise for being late,” the smiling 82-year old pontiff told crowds of faithful patiently waiting for him to appear at his study window overlooking Read more
In what appears to be a new position, Monsignor Dario Viganò, the former head of Vatican communications forced to resign amid scandal in 2018, on Saturday was named “vice chancellor” of the Pontifical Academies for Sciences and Social Sciences. The news was announced in an Aug. 31 communique from the Vatican, after rumors began to Read more
Christians who seem close to the church but are hypocrites because they don’t care for others are like aimless tourists, Pope Francis said last week. They “are always passing by but never enter the church in a fully communal way” Francis told those at his weekly general audience. Saying these Christians are like tourists visiting Read more
A hospital boat named the “Pope Francis” set sail this week in the Amazon River to bring medical care to rural populations. “Just as Jesus, who appeared walking on water, calmed the storm and strengthened the faith of the disciples, this boat will bring spiritual comfort and calm to the worries of needy men and Read more
Pope Francis is expected to make an official trip to Thailand in November ahead of an already announced visit to Japan, becoming the first pontiff in nearly four decades to go to either country, Vatican sources say. The three sources said the trip would be announced soon. The late Pope John Paul visited Japan in Read more
Pope Francis is concerned about recent political rhetoric, warning against nationalism and saying recent political speeches “resemble those of Hitler in 1934. “’Us first. We … We … These are frightening thoughts.” “Sovereignism” or nationalism, represents an attitude of “isolation” and closure, he said in an interveiw with Italian newspaper La Stampa last week. “A Read more
Over 220 former boy scouts, altar boys and students have begun a sex abuse lawsuit against 35 Catholic leaders in Guam’s archdiocese. Court documents show a systemic pattern of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy took place on the US territory of Guam for over 60 years. The sex abuse scandal and church cover-up that dates Read more
Pope Francis’s reforms to the Vatican Bank and attempts to restore its ethical credentials include new statutes. On Saturday Francis signed the new statutes and approved other changes to bolster the reforms that have cleaned out the once scandal-ridden institution. The reforms were initially launched by Francis’s predecessor Pope Benedict. Until Benedict and Francis sought Read more
Ahead of the Pope’s visit to Mozambique, the country’s president and the leader of the Renamo opposition have signed a peace agreement to end armed hostilities, almost three decades after the end of a civil war. The permanent ceasefire comes just weeks before Francis arrives on 5 September into Maputo for a one-day visit to Read more