With many “thanks” and “best wishes,” a group of 10 asylum-seekers greeted Pope Francis on his birthday Dec. 17.
Dialogue group calls for Catholic recognition of Anglican ordinations
A group of Catholic and Anglican theologians has publicly called on the Vatican to review and overturn a papal document from 1896 that declared Anglican ordinations “absolutely null and utterly void.”
Vatican releases text for installing catechists, explains ministry
Catholic men and women formally installed in the new ministry of catechists are not simply religious education teachers but are engaged in “the proclamation and transmission of the faith, carrying out this role in collaboration with the ordained ministers and under their guidance,” said a letter accompanying the Latin text of the Rite of Institution of Catechists.
Pope tells reporters Paris archbishop was hounded out by gossip
Pope Francis told reporters he accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris because the archbishop’s reputation had been destroyed, making it impossible for him to continue leading the French archdiocese.
God’s power is revealed in love, pope says at Mass in Athens
God the Almighty almost always chooses the least mighty people and the most desolate places to reveal the power of his love, Pope Francis said.
Attack causes of migration, not those forced to flee, pope says on Lesbos
Standing in a tent on the shore, Pope Francis said the Mediterranean Sea, “the cradle of so many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death.”
Pope asks pardon for sins that drove Catholic, Orthodox apart
Like St. John Paul II before him, Pope Francis apologized to members of the Orthodox Church of Greece for the ways Catholics over the centuries had offended them, and he told Catholic leaders that they must embrace their minority status with humility.
In Greece, Pope expresses concern for democracy’s decline in Europe
“Here democracy was born,” he told the representatives. “Yet we cannot avoid noting with concern how today — and not only in Europe — we are witnessing a retreat from democracy.”
Vatican announces pope will bring migrants from Cyprus to Italy
After Pope Francis denounced putting up “barbed wire” to keep out migrants and the practice of pushing boats back to countries where they face conditions similar to a “lager,” the Vatican announced he would help move a dozen migrants from Cyprus to Italy before Christmas.
God dreams of a world where all are welcomed as family, pope says
Pope Francis told migrants that, like them, God dreams of a world where everyone recognizes each other as brothers and sisters.
Pope assures migrants they are in his prayers and his heart
Pope Francis asked visitors in St. Peter’s Square to join him for a moment of silent prayer for migrants, especially those who recently drowned in the English Channel and in the Mediterranean and those who are freezing on the border of Belarus and Poland.
Change bad habits, protect the earth, help others, pope says in new book
Despite the disappointing outcome of the COP26 summit on climate change, Pope Francis said he knows it is not too late for humanity to act to combat environment destruction and increasing poverty.