The pontiff, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and an international array of other Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Buddhist leaders gathered on Rome’s Capitoline Hill Oct. 20 to affirm their community’s commitment to peace, dialogue, fraternity and assistance to the poor and needy.
The Catholic Church and the International Red Cross share the common goal of helping the poor and those displaced due to the pandemic and various conflicts around the world, said Peter Maurer, the president of the humanitarian organization.
Over the weekend Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who last month was fired from his Vatican job over accusations of embezzlement, has announced plans to take legal action against media outlets saying he bribed a witness in the abuse trial of his former nemesis, Australian Cardinal George Pell.
The Venezuelan bishops’ conference said government plans for congressional elections in December are “immoral” and would only aggravate the South American nation’s political and humanitarian crisis.
Demonstrators burned two Catholic churches in Chile, where gatherings to mark the one-year anniversary of mass protests against inequality descended into chaos.
A resident at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the residence where Pope Francis lives, tested positive for COVID-19, the Vatican announced.
The collection taken up in parishes around the globe on World Mission Sunday is “as unique as it is rare” because offerings are made by Catholics in the richest and poorest nations, a Vatican official said.
Representatives from both the United States and the United Kingdom have praised the work of religious sisters to assist trafficking victims during COVID-19, arguing that their work is crucial as the world prepares for the pandemic aftermath.
In his last Angelus, Pope Francis invited children to participate together in a very special initiative. He spoke to the crowd gathered outside of St. Peter’s Square, asking that children all over the world pray the rosary together on Sunday morning, Oct. 18.
On Oct. 12 the Vatican announced several key personnel moves, the most significant of which is the appointment of Bishop Marcello Semeraro to the Vatican’s saint-making office after its former prefect, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, was fired over allegations of embezzlement.
