Pope Francis was supposed to depart March 1 for his annual weeklong Lenten retreat with senior members of the Roman Curia. As has been custom since 2015, the get-away is being staged at a retreat center in the nearby hill town of Ariccia, about 45 minutes by car outside Rome.
Pope Francis did not attend a traditional penitential service with priests of the Diocese of Rome due to a mild cold, the Vatican said.
Amid continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Catholic pilgrims in the Holy Land said they were being cautious but had no regrets about continuing with their pilgrimage.
Coptic Christians in Egypt earlier this month observed the fifth anniversary of the martyrdom of 21 Christians in Libya at the hands of ISIS by dedicating a shrine to the victims and opening a museum at the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland in the al-Our village in the Minya governate in Egypt, where most of the martyrs were from.
As Italian regional officials canceled school and major public events over the weekend following a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, Church officials have urged citizens to adhere to restrictions set in place, saying they are close to the families impacted.
Visiting the Southern Italian city of Bari, Pope Francis on Feb. 23 demanded government leaders protect minorities, particularly Christians.
An artistic masterpiece conceived by the Renaissance master Raphael was on display for one week in the Sistine Chapel to help celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the artist’s death.
This week, clerical abuse survivors from around the world have flocked to Rome to mark the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s global summit on child protection, which took place at the Vatican in February of last year.
During the Roman Empire, the entire Mediterranean region was known as Mare Nostrum,“Our Sea.” It was an imperial assertion of dominance, of course, but it also reflected the idea that the peoples of the Mediterranean are linked by geography and destiny, sharing a common fate.
The decade-long process of updating the laws of Vatican City State is part of the Vatican’s support for international commitments to protect people and safeguard vulnerable groups, who are “frequently the victims of new, odious forms of illegality,” Pope Francis said.
