In another of his “blink and you’ll miss it” overseas trips, generally one or two-day affairs within Europe and the Mediterranean, Pope Francis arrives Saturday morning on the island nation of Malta and will be on the ground just 18 hours, returning to the Vatican by Sunday night.
Expressing “sorrow and shame” for the complicity of Catholics in abusing Indigenous children in Canada and helping in the attempt to erase their culture, Pope Francis pledged to address the issue more fully when he visits Canada.
Members of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations gave Pope Francis a “cradleboard,” a traditional baby carrier, and asked him to keep it overnight as he reflected on what happened to Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools and, particularly, to those who never made it home again.
One of the nation’s foremost champions for the cause of female deacons considers the Vatican’s new apostolic constitution — which in part opens top Vatican leadership roles to any baptized layperson, including women — an important step for Pope Francis’s vision, but not necessarily one that affects the future of women in the diaconate.
The Archdiocese of Seattle and its St. James Cathedral will sell and redevelop four properties in the city’s First Hill neighborhood as part of a project that aims to create affordable housing and steer the neighborhood towards carbon neutrality.
Pope Francis on Wednesday morning accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Paul R. Sanchez of Brooklyn. Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Paul Sanchez of Brooklyn remembers in 2012 when he received the call that Pope Benedict had named him auxiliary bishop, the apostolic nuncio told him that “you will be very happy in this ministry.”
Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan told Pope Francis that the Catholic Church in Poland is continuing its efforts to assist the countless refugees from Ukraine fleeing Russia’s destructive war in the country.
In three separate meetings March 28 and March 31, Pope Francis will listen to the experiences of representatives of Canada’s Indigenous communities, experiences that include being sent as children to residential schools operated by Catholic dioceses and religious orders.
Pope Francis renewed his call for an end to the war in Ukraine and strongly denounced the conflict as a barbaric act used by those in power at the cost of innocent lives.
Members of the Métis National Council gave Pope Francis a set of beaded moccasins and asked him to walk with them on the path of truth, justice and healing of Canada’s Indigenous communities and their relationship with the Catholic Church, said Cassidy Caron, president of the council.
