By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After literally hundreds of public prayers for peace in Ukraine and 443 days after Russia launched an all-out war on the Eastern European country, Pope Francis welcomed Ukrainian President to the Vatican. The topics of the conversation May 13 included “the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused […]
Ukrainian church leaders have cautiously welcomed news of a Vatican visit by their country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after a fresh wave of Russian missile attacks in anticipation of a counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces.
Nearly six months after Pope Francis ousted its entire leadership over what the Vatican said were lapses in management, the Caritas International charitable organization is meeting in Rome this week to regroup and elect a new governing team.
Multilateral institutions that have been stripped of power need a “profound reform” to guarantee peace and security between nations, Pope Francis wrote.
Eliminating the root causes of forced migration means ensuring everyone has an equal share in the common good, their fundamental rights are respected and their lives can flourish through integral human development, Pope Francis said.
Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II visited the Vatican from May 9 to 14 and met with Pope Francis. The visit was the second time in 10 years that Pope Tawadros visited the Vatican; he did so in May 2013, when the two churches proclaimed May 10 as “Coptic-Catholic Friendship Day.”
Monthly adoration has become a new normal for pilgrims visiting St. Peter’s Square. For Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, who led a monthly Vatican outdoor Holy Hour May 9, adoration is a crucial hour of any day.
Two popes sat side by side before a crowd of rain-soaked pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square May 10. Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, was at the Vatican to mark the 50th anniversary of a joint declaration signed by St. Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III in 1973 outlining the beliefs shared by their churches.
Questioned by the confreres of a Hungarian Jesuit kidnapped with another priest and imprisoned during Argentina’s murderous military dictatorship, Pope Francis said, “I did what I felt I had to do to defend them. It was a very painful affair.”
This week, there will again be “two popes” at the Vatican when Pope Francis meets his Coptic Orthodox counterpart, Pope Tawadros II, who is visiting in a bid to strengthen relations with the Catholic Church and bolster support for Christians in the Middle East.
