Pope Francis sent home 50 rosary beads for military men and women in his native country Argentina who are imprisoned as they await trial for alleged crimes committed during the country’s “dirty war,” the anti-communist campaign by the country’s military junta that left thousands of disappeared from 1976 to 1983.
Hollywood actors Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins received Oscar nominations on Monday for their portrayals of Popes Francis and Benedict XVI, respectively, in the new film “The Two Popes.”
At the request of retired Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his name will be removed as co-author of a book defending priestly celibacy, said Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Vatican official who coordinated work on the book.
The tweet early Jan. 3 from Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, asked for prayers. It wasn’t an unusual request from a church leader. Still, its significance stems from its context and its timing: a few hours after the overnight killing of Iran’s top military leader, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.
Pope Francis said Jan. 6 that faith is about more than knowledge and doctrine, pointing to the three wise men who visited the infant Jesus as an example of what it means for the Church to “go out,” seeking to worship God rather than oneself.
Days after the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by the United States, Pope Francis issued an appeal for peace and calm Jan. 5 amid what he said is an “air of tension” throughout the world.
Pope Francis began 2020 with a bang Wednesday, issuing a harsh condemnation of violence against women and insisting that how society treats women and their bodies is a measure of its level of humanity.
Two bishops who participated in a major summit on African Catholicism earlier this month have a message to the Catholic Church in the western world: Don’t bring your polarization onto our continent.
After accepting the resignation of 92-year-old Cardinal Angelo Sodano as dean of the College of Cardinals, Pope Francis changed the norms of the office so that the dean would be elected to a five-year term renewable only once.
The ongoing reform of the Roman Curia is a necessary part of the Catholic Church’s fidelity to its mission to proclaim the Gospel, recognizing that very few countries today can be described as “Christian” and that new ways of evangelizing are necessary, Pope Francis said.
