Pope Francis was in Kazakhstan last week, where he attended a high-profile meeting of interfaith leaders and, while refraining from naming aggressors directly, sent a clear message to Russian civil and ecclesial authorities on the war in Ukraine.
Pope Francis was in Kazakhstan last week, where he attended a high-profile meeting of interfaith leaders and, while refraining from naming aggressors directly, sent a clear message to Russian civil and ecclesial authorities on the war in Ukraine.
Close to 200 bishops at the beginning of their ministries in dioceses and eparchies around the world met Pope Francis Sept. 19 at the end of a week of conferences.
Under the right moral conditions, a country has the right to purchase weapons to defend itself from those who attack it, Pope Francis said.
The strength of the Catholic Church in Central Asia is measured not in numbers, but by the diversity of its people, Pope Francis said.
As war, violence and extremism in countries around the world threaten the lives of countless men, women and children, religions must rise above differences and be examples of peace and harmony, Pope Francis said.
Arriving in Kazakhstan, a country that borders Russia, Pope Francis said he came as a “pilgrim of peace” at a time when “our world urgently needs peace; it needs to recover harmony.”
Popes seem to have a habit of visiting Kazakhstan amid major crises and conflicts that risk fracturing regional stability and splintering its diverse religious and ethnic communities, and Pope Francis’ visit this week is no exception.
In a new interview, Pope Francis laid to rest rumors that a papal visit to Kyiv could happen before his visit to Kazakhstan next week, saying he has been forbidden by doctors from traveling before that due to his ongoing knee troubles.
Beatifying Blessed John Paul I, Pope Francis praised the late pope for showing the world God’s goodness and for living the Gospel without compromise.
German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, a once influential conservative prelate known to be at odds with several aspects of Pope Francis’s papacy, has asked that the right to vote in a conclave be limited to those residing in Rome.