Pope Francis has abolished the obligation of secrecy for those who report having been abused by a priest and for those who testify in a church trial or process having to do with clerical abuse.
Pope Francis has abolished the obligation of secrecy for those who report having been abused by a priest and for those who testify in a church trial or process having to do with clerical abuse.
In a new interview, Syrian President Bashar al Assad responded publicly to a letter he received from Pope Francis over the summer voicing concern about civilian casualties in the country’s ongoing civil war.
Mary, conceived without sin, is a “masterpiece” who reflects “the beauty of God who is all love, grace and self-giving,” Pope Francis said on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
According to a range of scholars at a Pan-African Congress on Theology, Pastoral Life, and Society, the pope’s metaphor for the Church as a “field hospital” provides particular resonance for the African continent – and, they say, must guide pastoral practice in the realms of education, liturgy, and the laity.
A little more than four years after Pope Francis published one of his most provocative documents, not to mention perhaps his most political, in the form of his eco-encyclical Laudato Si’, the pontiff appears increasingly disappointed in the way the environmental manifesto been received.
They’re often the first people he greets when holding an audience, so it came as no surprise Dec. 3 when Pope Francis released a message for the World Day of Persons with Disabilities, calling for them to be fully integrated in society, not only through legislation but a much-needed change in mentality.
In a document signed in the city where the Nativity crèche was born, Pope Francis on the first Sunday of Advent urged Christians to keep the “beautiful family tradition” of preparing these scenes in the days before Christmas, but also to keep the custom of setting them up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares.
Pope Francis said Tuesday that the latest round of financial scandal at the Vatican is actually a success story, because the situation was revealed thanks to an internal Vatican probe, which he said demonstrates that new controls are working.
Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Pope Francis visited Japan Nov. 23-26 as a “pilgrim of peace. The pontiff visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki to deliver a message against nuclear weapons, calling them “immoral” and urging nations to get rid of them.
The pope said he felt a “duty” to come to Hiroshima Peace Memorial as a pilgrim of peace and stand in silent prayer, “to recall the innocent victims of such violence.”