Tag Archives: Pope Francis

Pope Francis has expressed frustration with the countries that are “playing games” with Ukraine by first providing weapons and then considering backing out of their commitments. “It comes to my mind that there are interests, not just the Russian-Ukraine problem but selling arms, you know. The arms business,” Pope Francis …

Pope Francis, in a historic move that could lead to more inclusiveness in decision-making in the Roman Catholic Church, will allow women to vote for the first time at a global meeting of bishops in October. In the past, women were allowed to attend the synods, a papal advisory body, …

The Vatican said that the 86-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff would have to stay for “a few days” at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for “appropriate” medical treatment. Pope Francis spent a calm night in hospital after being admitted for a respiratory infection and is expected to remain there for a few days …

The interests of several countries, not just Russia, are driving the hostilities, the pontiff said Russia is not the only “empire” whose interests are driving the conflict in Ukraine, Pope Francis said in an interview with Swiss television RSI, set to be released on Sunday. Excerpts from the interview were …

Pope Francis landed in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday for a visit that will highlight the human cost of decades of conflict in the vast central African country, which is rich in minerals but where millions are displaced and live in poverty. Francis is the first pope to visit …

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani, mourned the death of former Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday, hailing his essential role in spreading peace. In a statement, Al-Sudani said, “The world sadly says goodbye to his Holiness, the former Pope Benedict XVI. The late Pontiff dedicated his efforts to promote peace, …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked Pope Francis to visit India, a significant opening towards the head of the Catholic Church who has long sought an official invitation to the Hindu-majority country. Modi, who is in Italy for the G20 summit, invited Francis during a meeting at the Vatican, …

Bowing to years of pressure from Indigenous groups and Catholics appalled by the residential school’s scandal, Canadian bishops have invited Pope Francis to visit Canada to help in the reconciliation process with the Indigenous peoples. In a brief statement, the Vatican on Wednesday said that the Pope was invited by …

Pope Francis said on Saturday he realizes some people, including within the Church, consider him to be “a pest” for defending the poor and most vulnerable, but that it won’t stop him as it is part of Christianity. “Thinking about these situations (of exclusion and inequality), I make a pest …

The Catholic Church’s leader Pope Francis has expressed sadness and shame over the Church’s inability to deal with the sexual abuse of children by the clergy in France. Francis’ expression of regret came after an independent commission investigating sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in France published a 2,500-page …

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Hungary could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy, an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage. Francis was in Hungary for an unusually short stay that underlined differences with the anti-immigrant …

Pope Francis has denounced the United States over its two-decade-long war in Afghanistan as an outsider’s attempt to impose democracy on the country ignoring the traditions of the local people. Asked during a recent interview about the new political map forming in Afghanistan in the wake of the US withdrawal, …

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he was greatly pained by the killing of a French priest, allegedly by a Rwandan immigrant already under investigation for setting the Nantes cathedral on fire last year. Father Olivier Maire, 60, head of the Montfortain Missionary Order at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, was found dead in …

Law enforcement in Milan is investigating the source of an envelope containing three bullets addressed to the pope, Italian paramilitary police said Monday. The suspicious envelope was intercepted by postal employees overnight at a mail sorting facility in a Milan suburb, according to the carabinieri provincial command in Milan. It …

Pope Francis greeted supporters for prayers on Sunday from the 10th-floor balcony of his hospital where he is recovering from colon surgery. “I am glad to be able to keep the Sunday Angelus appointment, even here” at the hospital, he said. “I have deeply felt your closeness and the support …

South Korea’s intelligence chief has said he is working on a possible visit by Pope Francis to North Korea, a Catholic news agency associated with the Vatican says.

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Sunday for scheduled intestinal surgery, the Vatican said, the first time he has been in hospital since his election in 2013. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope, 84, was due to undergo the surgery later on Sunday for an intestinal condition …

Influential cardinal and nine others to face trial in connection with 350m euro investment in London property venture. A Vatican judge has indicted 10 people, including a once-powerful cardinal, on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion, and fraud in connection with a 350 million-euro ($415m) investment in a London …

Pope Francis said on Sunday that he is “deeply pained” over the decision by Turkey to change the status of Hagia Sophia — which was originally built in Istanbul as a Christian cathedral — from a museum to a mosque. In a very brief, improvised remark, Francis, speaking from his …

Pope Francis has called the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police officers “tragic” and said he is praying for him and “all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism.” After the eighth night of protests across the United …