Georgia Bulletin

Vatican City

• Faith and flowers: Special rules keep God’s house simply beautiful

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published March 14, 2019

  VATICAN CITY—Of the many traditions and penitential practices observed during the season of Lent, one of the more visible is the stark change in church decor and a complete absence of flowers. The small floral arrangement usually seen on the corner of the altar of the chapel in the papal residence for morning Mass has […] Full Story

• After the Vatican’s summit on abuse, the stakes are clear

  

  By GREG ERLANDSON, Catholic News Service
  Published February 25, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The long-awaited “Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church,” nicknamed the abuse summit, was an extraordinary and historic gathering that surpassed many expectations while perhaps disappointing others. Historic in that it brought together the heads of 114 bishops’ conferences from the entire world, as well as the leaders of religious congregations, […] Full Story

• Cardinal: Can the church step up, lead way in protecting children?

  

  By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
  Published February 22, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Only together, by humbly sharing their experiences, encouragement and corrective advice, can the bishops and leaders in the Catholic Church work to prevent the abuse of minors and help bring healing to survivors, said the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Church leaders also must cooperate fully with local […] Full Story

• Religious superiors admit denial, slowness to act against abuse

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published February 22, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Twisted ideas of power and authority in the Catholic Church have contributed to the clerical sexual abuse crisis, leaders of religious orders said, but sometimes the positive “sense of family” in their own communities also made them slow to act. “Pope Francis rightly attacks the culture of clericalism which has hindered our fight […] Full Story | En Español

• Streaming video, resources for the Vatican Summit on the Protection of Minors in the Church

  By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
  Published February 21, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics need to know that their leaders “mean business” when it comes to protecting minors from abuse, the Vatican’s top abuse investigator told representatives of the world’s bishops and religious orders. “They should come to know us as friends of their safety and that of their children and youth. We will […] Full Story

• McCarrick removed from the priesthood after being found guilty of abuse

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published February 16, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)–Pope Francis has confirmed the removal from the priesthood of Theodore E. McCarrick, the 88-year-old former cardinal and archbishop of Washington. The Vatican announced the decision Feb. 16, saying he was found guilty of “solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the […] Full Story

• Pope: Respect, dialogue key for peace between Christians, Muslims

  

  By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service
  Published February 6, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, while brief, was a new page in relations between Christians and Muslims at a time when conflict and violence threaten the goal of lasting peace. Recalling his Feb. 3-5 visit to Abu Dhabi, the pope said during his weekly general […] Full Story

• Vatican releases guidelines to help church fight human trafficking

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published January 17, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The Vatican has created a set of pastoral guidelines to inspire and improve the church’s work in addressing the crime of human trafficking and the care of its victims worldwide. The Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development released its “Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking” Jan. 17 at […] Full Story

• Pope’s World Youth Day trip to include visits with sick, imprisoned

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published January 10, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—When Pope Francis visits Panama for World Youth Day later in January, he will meet with young people not able to attend the festivities: some in jail and with some living with HIV. He also will dedicate the altar of Panama’s newly renovated 400-year-old cathedral, meet with bishops from Central America and have […] Full Story | En Español

• Robots and AI: Papal academy decodes newest pro-life challenges

  

  By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
  Published January 4, 2019

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Even though today’s modern tools and technologies are hardly human, the Pontifical Academy for Life is zeroing in on the world of robots and machines powered by artificial intelligence. While the academy’s focus is on the protection of human life and dignity, the rapidly shifting and radical capabilities of robotics are […] Full Story

• Pope to U.S. bishops: Abuse crisis requires conversion, humility

  

  By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
  Published January 3, 2019

  VATICAN CITY—The clerical abuse crisis and the “crisis of credibility” it created for the U.S. bishops have led to serious divisions within the U.S. church and to a temptation to look for administrative solutions to problems that go much deeper, Pope Francis told the U.S. bishops. Without a clear and decisive focus on spiritual conversion […] Full Story

• Vatican publication looks at ways to raise profile of women in the church

  

  By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
  Published January 3, 2019

  VATICAN CITY—Too often in the Catholic Church, “the sacrifices of women are used only to reinforce the power of those who already have it,” wrote the editor of the Vatican newspaper’s monthly section on women in the church. In the “Woman-Church-World” supplement to L’Osservatore Romano published Jan. 2, editor Lucetta Scaraffia wrote, “A revolution is […] Full Story

• ‘Everything changes’ with Christ’s birth, pope says

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published December 22, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The Annunciation—the Angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will bear God’s son—was such a tremendous, history-changing event that preaching about it is extremely difficult, Pope Francis said. So, when the Gospel reading for daily Mass Dec. 20 was St. Luke’s version of the Annunciation, the pope basically devoted his homily to reading […] Full Story

• Pope leads prayers for peace in ‘tormented’ Syria

  

  By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
  Published December 6, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Leading thousands of pilgrims in prayer, Pope Francis lit a candle in remembrance of the people of Syria, especially innocent children tormented by the country’s eight-year conflict. “May this flame of hope and many flames of hope dispel the darkness of war,” he said Dec. 2 after praying the Angelus prayer. The lighting […] Full Story

• Pope: Idolatry empties lives, ruins hearts, which only Christ can revive

  

  By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
  Published December 6, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Every heart enslaved by false idols and evil desires needs a “transplant” with a heart filled with love, joy, goodness, hope and generosity, Pope Francis said. “How does this ‘heart transplant’ happen? From an old heart to a new heart? Through the gift of new desires,” the pope said Nov. 28 during his […] Full Story

• Helping the poor is not a papal fad, but a duty, pope says

  

  By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
  Published November 19, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the rich get richer, the increasing misery and cries of the poor are ignored every day, Pope Francis said. “We Christians cannot stand with arms folded in indifference” or thrown up in the air in helpless resignation, the pope said in his homily Nov. 18, the World Day of the […] Full Story

• For Catholics, St. Oscar Romero’s canonization a dream come true

  

  By MELISSA VIDA and JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published October 24, 2018

  ROME (CNS)—For many pilgrims from El Salvador and for many Catholics who focus on the tie between faith and justice, waiting for the canonization of St. Oscar Romero was an exercise in patience. The declaration of the sainthood of the Salvadoran archbishop, who was assassinated while celebrating Mass in 1980, teaches men and women that […] Full Story | En Español

• ‘Watering down’ church teaching won’t attract young people, cardinal says

  

  By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
  Published October 19, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Just because some young people disagree with Catholic moral teaching, including in the area of sexuality, does not mean the church’s teachings are unclear or should change, Cardinal Robert Sarah told the Synod of Bishops. The church and its pastors should “courageously propose the Christian ideal corresponding to Catholic moral doctrine and not […] Full Story

• Pope accepts Cardinal Wuerl’s resignation as Washington archbishop

  

  By Catholic News Service
  Published October 12, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl as archbishop of Washington but did not name a successor. When the pope’s decision was announced Oct. 12, the Archdiocese of Washington released a letter from Pope Francis to the cardinal, making clear his support for Cardinal Wuerl’s ministry and leadership, but […] Full Story

• Love breaks chains of slavery to sin, pope says

  

  By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
  Published September 20, 2018

  VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Only true love for God and neighbor can destroy the chains of greed, lust, anger and envy that enslave humankind, Pope Francis said. “True love is true freedom: It detaches from possession, rebuilds relationships, it knows how to welcome and value the neighbor, it transforms every struggle into a joyous gift and makes […] Full Story