A gay British comedian says a meeting with Pope Francis lifted his burden of guilt and feelings of not belonging – and perhaps those of millions of gay believers across the world. Stephen K. Amos was on the BBC2 show Pilgrimage: The Road To Rome, which followed eight celebrities as they travelled a section of Read more
Pope Francis has donated $500,000 to Mexico-based projects to help migrant communities. The funds will be distributed between 27 projects associated with 16 Mexican dioceses and congregations. All of them have asked for help to continue providing food, lodging and other basic necessities to those fleeing their home countries through Mexico. “In recent months, thousands Read more
The Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, has published a 6,000-word essay blaming clerical sex abuse on the “all-out sexual freedom” of the 1960s. Cultural and historical change have led to a “dissolution” of morality in Catholicism, he claims. As an example, he says despite allegations of clerical sex abuse of children dating back to decades before Read more
Political far right campaigner Steve Bannon, who is Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, has attacked Pope Francis over his anti-populism stance. Ramping up his message ahead of the European elections, Bannon said Francis should stay out of politics. “He’s the administrator of the church, and he’s also a politician. This is the problem,” Bannon – Read more
Pope Francis knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s previously warring leaders urging them to respect the armistice they signed and to commit to forming a unified government next month. “I am asking you as a brother to stay in peace. I am asking you with my heart, let us go forward. There will Read more
Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, led a spiritual retreat for South Sudan’s leaders at the Vatican this week. The “unprecedented” spiritual retreat, which finished yesterday, was described by Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti as a “propitious occasion for reflection and prayer”. He says it offered “an occasion for encounter and reconciliation, in Read more
During a visit to a parish in Rome, Pope Francis offered three signs a parish is doing well: prayer; the “charity of facts”, exemplified by their charitable works; and “passive charity”. “What is passive charity?” he asked rhetorically. “That you love one another and do not criticize one another”. During his pastoral visit Francis meets Read more
Drawing on the “Servant of Hope” theme of his recent trip to Morocco, Pope Francis told the faithful at his General Audience last week that “to serve hope in our day is to build bridges between cultures”. Thanking God for allowing him “to take another step along the road of dialogue and encounter with our Read more
Pope Francis has published a new document dedicated to youth, bringing full-circle a process of consultation that began last year when the Vatican reached out to young people around the world ahead of an October summit of bishops on how to better approach them. Called Christus Vivit, the document is 180 pages long and takes Read more
In the central rotunda of Keating Hall on the campus of Fordham University, there is a unique statue that is often overlooked by the the busy students and faculty who walk by on the way to class. The statue depicts Jesus at 18, the average age of an incoming college student. According to Aloysius Hogan, Read more