Pope Francis has postponed the World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. According to a Vatican website notice, the World Meeting of Families will now take place in Rome in June 2022 instead of June 2021. The notice also says World Youth Day which was to be Read more
Irish primate Archbishop Eamon Martin says Archbishop Carlo Mario Viganò hijacked the World Meeting of Families in August. Viganò achieved this by releasing an 11-page letter accusing Pope Francis of mishandling sexual abuse claims on the final day of his visit to Ireland. In the letter, Viganò claims Francis was aware of sexual misconduct concerns Read more
Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar says religion should not be at the centre of society. Speaking on the weekend as Pope Francis made his first visit to Ireland, Varadkar noted since the last papal visit in 1979, Ireland has become more diverse. It is less religious and has modernised its laws on divorce, contraception, Read more
It’s family time for the Bergoglios this week, with Pope Francis visiting Dublin for the World Meeting of Families and his niece Cristina exhibiting artwork at a Dublin gallery. Artist, author and architect Cristina Bergoglio is exhibiting her paintings, many of which were inspired by one of Francis’s favorite themes: bridges. Much of Francis’s pontificate Read more
Church bells rang simultaneously and prayers were offered across Ireland’s 26 dioceses to launch the five-day World Meeting of Families Catholic congress. Read more
Despite saying all were “welcome to participate as one family” at the World Meeting of Families (WMoF) LGBT Catholic group, We Are Church Ireland says organisers have shut it out. The event which Pope Francis will attend is due to take place in Ireland next month. We Are Church Ireland (WAC Ireland), which advocates for Read more
A ‘Say Nope to the Pope’ Facebook page is encouraging people to protest against Pope Francis’s visit to Ireland in August. The campaign aims to ensure a low turnout at planned events at the triennial World Meeting of Families. So far over 1,000 people have clicked “attending” the protest and another 4,000 say they are Read more
There will be two World Meetings of Families (WMOF) in Dublin this August. The official one and an alternative parallel conference planned to take place in nearby Ballsbridge. The alternative conference, entitled the Conference of Catholic Families, is sponsored by the Lumen Fidei Institute. It will focus on defending the Church’s teaching on sexuality. It Read more
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has been tipped to sing before Pope Francis at the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin later this year. Negotiations are ongoing to secure the singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. If he does sign up for the concert, Bocelli will sing at the Festival of Read more
A new book aimed at strengthening the family to become communities of life and love is to be launched in Wellington in November. Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive has been written and compiled by Patricia Alfonso-Sison. It is based on the preparatory catechism of the same title from the 8th World Meeting of Families, Read more