On the Solemnity of Christ the King in 2013, Pope Francis completed the work of the 2012 Synod of Bishops with the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), issuing a ringing call for the entire Church to “embark on a new chapter of evangelization.” Catholicism, the Pope urged, must move from maintenance to mission: “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.”
When each individual makes a small act of charity, like getting the COVID-19 vaccine, every gesture added together can transform the world, Pope Francis said in a global ad campaign.
Two Catholic nuns were shot and killed along a highway in South Sudan Aug. 16 as they were returning home to Juba. Seven other sisters survived the attack.
Hours before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Pope Francis expressed his hope for the peace and safety of the country’s citizens.
The president of the U.S. bishops conference expressed his “heartfelt prayers for the people of Haiti who are mourning the loss of loved ones and are suffering” after an earthquake hit the Caribbean nation early on Aug. 14.
At his general audience Aug. 11, Pope Francis told French-speaking visitors that it was “with great sorrow” that he learned of the Aug. 6 murder.
Italian police identified the sender of the letter addressed to Pope Francis that contained three bullets as a French citizen “already known to Vatican security.” The name of the individual has not been released by authorities.
Italian police have launched an investigation after postal workers discovered an envelope containing three bullets and addressed to “the pope.”
For Iraqis, the first week of August 2014 will forever be etched into their memory as the start of one of the worst episodes of religious and ethnic persecution the country has ever seen when the so-called Islamic State overtook the Plain of Nineveh.
Catholic bishops in Japan called for the prohibition of nuclear weapons as they announced a 10-day prayer program marking the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
