On Saturday Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals, including 16 under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope. It was Pope Francis’ eighth consistory, and whenever we get a new crop of Princes of the Church, several chronic misconceptions tend to head once more into the breach.
In a ceremony to create 20 new cardinals, Pope Francis encouraged the College of Cardinals to have the same spiritual zeal for all people, whether they are in positions of power or ordinary Christians.
Even if the garments are hand-me-downs, like the one Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires wore when Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal, the label is almost always the same.
Right now, we’re in the middle of what I’ve taken to calling “World Series Week” on the Vatican beat. We tend to reserve the “Super Bowl” metaphor for transition events, i.e., the death or resignation of a pope, but this is basically the next step down in terms of significance and media interest.
Cries of grief rose, and fingers of blame were pointed in the wake of a tragic fire that gutted Martyr Abu Sefein Coptic Church and claimed the lives of 41 people including 15 children and the church bishop, Abdul Masih Bakhit.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who was expected to meet Pope Francis at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, will not attend the interreligious gathering in September, a senior Russian Orthodox bishop said.
Many churches still struggle to rebuild from the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, but escalating gang violence is turning the situation from “bad to worse,” church leaders say. Nevertheless, they believe hope is alive in Haiti.
Four nuns who were kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Imo State on Sunday, Aug. 21, have been returned to their community.
Much has changed in the world since the seminal World Youth Day 1993 event in Denver put the event firmly on the map among North American Catholics.
Marking the six-month anniversary of the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for prayers for an end to “the horror of war.”
