Rome
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Unity, not nationality led to Pope Leo’s election, U.S. cardinals say
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published May 14, 2025While it is interesting and perhaps a point of pride that the new Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States, most of the U.S.-based cardinals who participated in the conclave said nationality was not a factor.
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Changing the world demands changing direction, pope writes for Way of Cross
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published April 18, 2025“Your way, Jesus, is the way of the Beatitudes. It does not crush, but cultivates, repairs and protects,” the pope wrote for the nighttime Way of the Cross ceremony on April 18 in Rome’s Colosseum.
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‘Why them and not me,’ pope asks after Holy Thursday visit to prison
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 17, 2025While he did not celebrate Mass or wash the feet of inmates, Pope Francis made his customary Holy Thursday visit to a detention facility, arriving at Rome’s Regina Coeli jail at about 3 p.m. April 17.
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Pope returns to Vatican after long hospitalization
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published March 23, 2025Immediately before leaving Rome’s Gemelli hospital after more than five weeks of treatment for double pneumonia and infections, Pope Francis greeted hundreds of people who gathered outside the hospital March 23.
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Update: Pope’s chronic lung condition plus infection are serious, doctor says
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published February 21, 2025While Pope Francis’ life is not in immediate danger, the level of multiple infections in his lungs means he is not completely “out of danger,” said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, director of medical and surgical sciences at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
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Pope’s therapy adjusted again after tests reveal ‘polymicrobial infection’
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published February 17, 2025On his fourth day in Rome’s Gemelli hospital, Pope Francis was without fever and devoted some time to work, the Vatican said.
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Top Vatican official hopes Trump will promote peace, national unity
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published November 7, 2024The Vatican secretary of state said his prayer for Donald J. Trump is that God would grant him wisdom “because that is the main virtue of those who govern according to the Bible.”
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During Lent, leave appearances aside and listen to God, says pope
By JUSTIN McLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published February 14, 2024Lent is a time to cast aside appearances and to find God at work in the depths of the heart, Pope Francis said on Ash Wednesday.
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Pope visits pediatric oncology ward, baptizes infant during hospital stay
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published March 31, 2023Pope Francis used his third day at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to visit children hospitalized in the oncology ward and to confer the sacrament of baptism on a tiny infant named Miguel Angel.
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Pope says Lent is time to let go of the frivolous, to choose truth, love
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published February 22, 2023What matters is the truth and the love that God sees, not what is superficial, showy and self-centered, Pope Francis said during a Mass to mark the beginning of Lent.
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In early morning darkness, pope pays tribute to Immaculate Conception
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published December 8, 2021An hour before sunrise, Pope Francis set a basket of white roses at the base of a statue of the Immaculate Conception in the center of Rome, praying Mary would help all who suffer.
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Tombs of fallen soldiers are cry for peace, pope says on All Souls’ feast
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published November 2, 2021Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the feast of All Souls, Nov. 2, at the French Military Cemetery in Rome, calling their graves “a message of peace.”
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Hundreds gather outside hospital to greet recovering pope
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published July 11, 2021Pilgrims and well-wishers gathered at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis as he made his first public appearance in a week after undergoing intestinal surgery.
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Accountability, transparency, due process still needed, abuse experts say
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published April 16, 2021To help foster a wider discussion on work that still must be done to safeguard minors and vulnerable people in the church, a canon law journal published a series of talks by experts regarding accountability, transparency and confidentiality in the handling of abuse allegations.
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Southeastern bishops celebrate Mass at Rome’s St. John Lateran
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published February 11, 2020The bishops of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina celebrated Mass Feb. 10 during their visit “ad limina apostolorum”—to the threshold of the apostles—to report on the status of their dioceses to Rome.
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Surprise! Pope makes several impromptu visits
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published December 10, 2018ROME (CNS)—Pope Francis made surprise visits Dec. 7 and 8 to people receiving medical care far from their homes, to a dozen intellectually challenged young people and to the staff of a major Rome newspaper. The late-afternoon visits Dec. 7 to the CasAmica residence for families with a member needing long-term medical care far from […]
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‘Selfie’ culture leads to alienation, departure from reality, pope says
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published May 25, 2018ROME (CNS)—While taking selfies can be an occasion to capture treasured memories, it can also be a sign that young men and women are deprived of meaningful human interaction with others, Pope Francis said. Responding to questions May 14 at a meeting with 1,700 priests and lay leaders of the Diocese of Rome gathered at […]
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‘Is my dad in heaven?’ little boy asks pope
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 23, 2018ROME (CNS)—After circling a massive, crumbling public housing complex on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Francis had an emotional encounter with the neighborhood’s children. Question-and-answer sessions with youngsters are a standard part of Pope Francis’ parish visits. And, at St. Paul of the Cross parish April 15, there were the usual questions like, “How did […]
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Jesus does not give up on anyone, pope tells prisoners
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 11, 2018ROME (CNS)—Before washing the feet of 12 prisoners, Pope Francis told them and hundreds of inmates to remember that Jesus constantly stands before them with love, ready to cleanse their sins and forgive them. “Jesus takes a risk on each of us. Know this: Jesus is called Jesus, not Pontius Pilate. Jesus does not know […]
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Pope urges children to tell God about their—not others’—sins
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published March 23, 2017ROME (CNS)—Witches don’t really exist, so they can do no harm, Pope Francis told a young girl, but gossip, sin and evil exist and they hurt people every day. “What frightens me?” the pope asked, repeating the question posed by Sara, one of the children at the Rome parish of St. Magdalene of Canossa. “I’m […]