‘Welcome’ is at the heart of document on gay blessings, pope says February 7, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News People who act shocked that a priest would bless a gay couple but have no problem with him blessing a crooked businessman are hypocrites, Pope Francis said.
Wallowing in sorrow is a vice, pope says at audience February 7, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Feeling sad, disappointed or ashamed of oneself sometimes is normal and even can lead to conversion, but when people wallow in their sadness it becomes a dangerous vice, Pope Francis said.
Ignorance breeds fear, fear breeds intolerance, pope tells students February 6, 2024By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Love and seek the truth, which requires being open to listening to others and sharing in dialogue, Pope Francis told students.
God is close, compassionate, not cold, distant, pope says February 5, 2024By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, Vatican, World News Christians must let go of the God they think they know and convert every day to the God Jesus presents in the Gospel — the God who is the father of love and compassion, Pope Francis said.
300 parish priests to participate in Vatican synod meeting, meet with pope February 5, 2024By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Synodality, Vatican, World News Three hundred parish priests from all over the world will come to Rome and make their contribution to the ongoing Synod of Bishops on synodality by sharing their experiences of parish life, the Vatican said.
Pope tells seminarians to put the Eucharist at the center of formation February 5, 2024By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Eucharist, News, Vatican, Vocations, World News If seminarians want to advance in their discernment and practice of religious life they must place the Eucharist at the center of their formation, Pope Francis wrote.
Pope, cardinals continue discussion of role of women in the church February 5, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News With the help of a woman Anglican bishop, a Salesian sister and a consecrated virgin, Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals devoted the first morning of their February meeting “to deepening their reflection, begun last December, on the role of women in the church,” the Vatican press office said.
Pope hopes Lunar New Year celebrations will foster friendship, peace February 5, 2024By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News – Pope Francis expressed his hopes that Lunar New Year celebrations would offer opportunities for people to experience warm friendships and to show care.
Pope, in letter to Jews in Israel, condemns antisemitism as a sin February 5, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, Feature, News, Vatican, World News In a letter addressed to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel,” Pope Francis expressed his heartbreak at the violence unleashed by the Hamas attack on Israel in October and he repeated the Catholic Church’s condemnation of all forms of antisemitism and anti-Judaism.
Changing words in sacraments can make them invalid, dicastery warns February 5, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News, Worship & Sacraments When a priest or other minister changes the words, gestures or material prescribed for the celebration of the sacraments, he can “rob” the faithful of what they deserve and make the sacrament invalid, the dicastery said in a note published Feb. 3.
Waiting, not worldliness, leads to the Lord, pope tells religious February 2, 2024By Justin McLellan OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, Vocations, World News After candlelight filled a darkened St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis asked consecrated men and women not to let their spirits “doze off” while waiting to encounter the Lord but to keep their hearts awake in anticipation “like an eternal flame.”
Catholic, Anglican bishops vow to support one another, work together February 2, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, Feature, News, Vatican, World News As Catholics and Anglicans pray and work for the day when they can celebrate the Eucharist together, they are called to support one another in situations of suffering, apologize together for times when they have sinned and work together to share the good news of God’s love, said bishops from both communities.
