by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Israeli President Shimon Peres officially invited Pope Francis to Israel and left their meeting at the Vatican telling the pope, “I am expecting you in Jerusalem and not just me, but all the people of Israel.” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters, “The pope would be […]
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Pope Confirms 44 People, Including Two U.S. Teens
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Administering the sacrament of Confirmation to 44 people, including two teenagers from the U.S. and two from Ireland, Pope Francis encouraged them to “swim against the tide; it’s good for the heart.” In a partially improvised homily at Mass April 28 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis encouraged […]
Pope: You Can Only Find Jesus within the Church
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Following Jesus means belonging to the Church, the community that gives Christians their identity, Pope Francis said. “It is not possible to find Jesus outside the church,” he said in his Mass homily April 23. “The great Paul VI said it is ‘an absurd dichotomy’ to want to […]
Missioner in Brooklyn Shares Pope’s Ethnicity
by Antonina Zielinska As the world is learning about its new pope, one Brooklyn resident already loves him as a father. Natalia Fassano is a lay consecrated member of Heart’s Home, a Catholic missionary group that sponsors an outreach center in the Fort Greene housing projects. She has taken permanent promises of poverty, chastity and […]
Pope’s Election Is a Sign of Church’s Shift from Europe
by Jonathan Luxmoore OXFORD, England (CNS) – The election of Pope Francis, an Argentine, to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics confirms what observers have long known: Vast demographic shifts in the Catholic population are reconfiguring the face of the Church and shifting the institution’s center from its historic European heartland. What that means for […]
Pope Picks Panel of Reformers
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Amid rising concerns about corruption and mismanagement in the central administration of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis named an international panel of cardinals to advise him on the latest reform of the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican Secretariat of State announced April 13 that the pope had established the group – which […]
Pope Says Reform of LCWR Will Continue
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis reaffirmed the Vatican’s call for reform of the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the U.S.-based nuns’ group that he had “recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed […]
Argentine Pope Expected To Boost WYD Numbers
by Lisa Alves SAO PAULO (CNS) – Members of the local organizing committee for World Youth Day say that, with the recent election of an Argentine pope, they expect up to 2.5 million young people at the international event in Rio de Janeiro. “We currently have 200,000 pilgrims already registered, but registrations go on until […]
Pope Meets UN Secretary General
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Recognizing the important role each other plays on the global stage, Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met at the Vatican April 9, discussing common efforts to promote peace and protect human dignity. “The United Nations and the Holy See share common goals and ideals,” the U.N. […]
Pope Calls for Decisive Actions on Sex Abuse Cases
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis reaffirmed the importance of responding decisively to the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and called on the Vatican office dealing with suspected cases to continue carrying out its mandate. During an April 5 meeting with Archbishop Gerhard L. Muller, […]