Georgia Bulletin

Vatican City

• Pope Francis announces extraordinary ‘urbi et orbi’ blessing March 27

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published March 23, 2020

  In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said he will give an extraordinary blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) at 6 p.m. Rome time Friday, March 27.

• Vatican closes St. Peter’s Square, Basilica to tourists through April 3

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published March 10, 2020

  In cooperation with Italian emergency measures, the Vatican has closed St. Peter’s Square and Basilica to tourists through April 3. The new measure, announced March 10, was the latest move by the Vatican to help stop the spread of the coronavirus by reducing access to places that attract large groups.

• Pope shares with U.S. bishops his frustration with reaction to Amazon text

  

  By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
  Published February 13, 2020

  Fifteen bishops from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina spent close to three hours with Pope Francis Feb. 13 as part of their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

• Beatitudes are a Christian’s ID card, pope says at audience

  

  Published February 6, 2020

  The beatitudes are a path to joy and true happiness mapped out by Jesus for all of humanity, Pope Francis said. “It is difficult not to be touched by these words,” the pope said Jan. 29 during his weekly general audience.

• U.S. bishops taking ‘ad limina’ visits to Rome

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published January 23, 2020

  The bishops of the U.S. prepared detailed reports on their dioceses to take to the Vatican. The U.S. bishops’ visits “ad limina apostolorum” began in 2019. Bishop Joel M. Konzen, SM, diocesan administrator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Bishop Bernard E. Shlesinger III will take ad limina visits Feb. 7-15.

• Pope lifts secrecy obligation for those who report having been abused

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published December 17, 2019

  Pope Francis has abolished the obligation of secrecy for those who report having been sexually abused by a priest and for those who testify in a church trial or process having to do with clerical sexual abuse.

• Pope’s 2019: Preaching the Gospel globally, dealing with scandals

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published December 12, 2019

  For Pope Francis, 2019 included his sixth anniversary as pope and his 50th anniversary as a priest, but it also was a year that saw him still confronted with the clerical sexual abuse crisis and with Vatican financial scandals. He earned more points than ever on his frequent-flyer card, making seven foreign trips in 2019.

• Kindly lights in gloomy world: Pope declares five new saints

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published October 17, 2019

  Pope Francis formally declared five new saints for the Catholic Church Oct. 13 including St. John Henry Newman.

• Cardinal Sarah: To oppose the pope is to be outside the church

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published October 9, 2019

  Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the people who portray him as an opponent of Pope Francis are being used by the devil to help divide the church.

• Commitment to fighting climate change still weak, pope says

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published September 24, 2019

  The international community must ramp up its efforts if it expects to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, Pope Francis said in a video message sent Sept. 23 to participants at the U.N. Climate Action Summit.

• U.S. delegation brings V Encuentro results to pope, Vatican

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published September 19, 2019

  A delegation of U.S. bishops and laypeople came to Rome to share with Pope Francis and Vatican officials the joyful experiences and valuable recommendations that came out of last year’s Fifth National Encuentro.

• Lofty titles do not guarantee entrance to heaven, pope says

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published August 26, 2019

  A life marked by humility, faith and love determines whether Christians enter heaven, not who they know, Pope Francis said at the Aug. 25 Angelus prayer.

• Spirituality of silence is a journey toward God, priest says

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published August 8, 2019

  Silence is an important part of Christian spirituality and mental wellbeing, but scarce in a busy, noisy, world.

• Christian community a place of welcome, solidarity, pope says

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published June 26, 2019

  To be part of a Christian community is to belong to a group of believers who shun selfishness and give witness to God’s love by loving and caring for one another, Pope Francis said at his June 26 general audience.

• Pope advances sainthood causes for first African American diocesan priest

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published June 12, 2019

  Pope Francis advanced the sainthood cause of Father Augustus Tolton, who was the first African American diocesan priest in the United States.

• Catholic minorities can still change the world, pope says

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published May 16, 2019

  Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God’s miracle of feeding a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said.

• Papal document addresses challenges of evangelizing in the digital age

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published April 3, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—While digital communications and social media can be used as a tool of evangelization and a place of dialogue with others, they also can be lonely environments where young people fall prey to humanity’s worst vices, Pope Francis wrote. In his new apostolic exhortation to young people, “Christus Vivit” (“Christ Lives”), the pope […] Full Story

• ‘Spiritual combat’ must be part of fight against sex abuse, pope says

  

  By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
  Published April 1, 2019

  ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME (CNS) — To fight clerical sexual abuse, the Catholic Church must have clear laws and procedures, but it also must engage in “spiritual combat,” because it is obvious the devil is at work, Pope Francis said. After the Vatican summit on abuse in February, the pope said, he read […] Full Story

• Some traditional formalities do not ring true with Pope Francis

  By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
  Published March 28, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has made it more than obvious that he does not like people kissing his ring. The viral video of him yanking his right hand away from a string of about 17 people coming up to him one-by-one during a trip to Loreto, Italy, March 25, caught many people by […] Full Story

• Worn marble steps of Holy Stairs to be uncovered for public to climb

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published March 21, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—For the first time in 300 years, the marble steps of the Holy Stairs will be free from the thick wooden panels installed in 1723 to protect the stairs and left uncovered for the public. For at least 40 days, people will be able to touch and climb the bare stones that, according […] Full Story