Vatican City
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Pope elevates memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to feast day
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published June 23, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Recognizing St. Mary Magdalene’s role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a “true and authentic evangelizer,” Pope Francis raised the July 22 memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast on the church’s liturgical calendar, the Vatican announced. A decree formalizing the decision was published by the Congregation for Divine […]
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Special forces: Graduates head home armed with skills to fight abuse
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published June 23, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The Catholic Church has launched a new kind of “special forces” in the fight against child abuse. Nineteen men and women from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas became the first graduates awarded special certification in the safeguarding of minors—an initiative begun in Rome in 2016 to help dioceses, bishops’ conferences, religious orders […]
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Love, respect, not perfection, lead to happiness, pope says
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published June 23, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Love and solidarity are what make the world a better place, not a focus on physical perfection and hiding away those who do not fit a commercial ideal, Pope Francis said. “The world does not become better because only apparently ‘perfect’—not to mention fake—people live there, but when human solidarity, mutual acceptance and […]
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Pope asks YouTubers to help stop aggression, bullying
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published June 10, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Help wipe out bullying and aggression by being better listeners and offering concrete gestures of tolerance and patience, Pope Francis told a group of top YouTubers from around the world. “The level of aggressiveness in our world needs to be dialed down. (The world) needs tenderness, meekness, (people) listening and walking together,” he […]
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Pope to appoint advisory board in removing negligent bishops
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published June 10, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis will set up a panel of legal experts to help him in deciding whether to remove a religious superior or bishop from office for failing to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse. Vatican offices will continue to investigate claims of negligence on the part of bishops, ordinaries or religious […]
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To ignore the poor is to despise God, pope says
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published May 26, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—How Christians treat the poor is the clearest demonstration of their relationship with God, Pope Francis insisted. “To ignore the poor is to despise God! And we must learn this well: To ignore the poor is to despise God!” the pope said May 18 during his weekly general audience. The pope focused on […] Full Story
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Vatican magazine gives attention to unheard women, official says
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published May 12, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—A new Vatican magazine will give attention to women’s voices, something that often has been missing in the church despite women’s important role in announcing the Gospel, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin. “If we do not listen attentively to the voice of women in the great decisive moments in the life of the church, […] Full Story
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Pope: Each soul vital to God, his followers must move in mercy
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published May 12, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—There is no such thing as a soul that is lost forever, only people who are waiting to be found, Pope Francis said. God is not part of humanity’s “throwaway culture” and does not shut out the sinner and those most in need, the pope said May 4 during his weekly general audience. […] Full Story
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Pope tells women religious Vatican will study women deacons
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published May 12, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis told the heads of women’s religious orders from around the world that he would set up a commission to study the New Testament deaconesses and he also insisted more can and should be done to involve lay and consecrated women in church decision-making at every level. Asked if he would establish […] Full Story
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A little bit country: Pope looks at the nitty-gritty of family life
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 14, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis’ hymn to love and family life is more like a country song than a Disney tune. In “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis’ postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the family, there is passion and devotion, but also heartache and sweat. The “magic” he wrote about is not momentarily sparkly, but […]
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Share truth of family with mercy, help those struggling, pope says
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 14, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The same mercy and patience that are essential for building a strong family must be shown to those whose families are in trouble or have broken up, Pope Francis said in his highly anticipated postsynodal apostolic exhortation. The document, “‘Amoris Laetitia’ (The Joy of Love), on Love in the Family,” released April 8, […]
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Pope asks for new Catholic institutions of mercy, charity
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 14, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis asked Catholic dioceses around the world to set up a permanent memorial of the Year of Mercy by establishing a hospital, home for the aged or school in an under-served area. Celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday with an evening prayer vigil April 2 and a morning Mass April 3, the pope said […] Full Story
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Reconcile with God, resurrect hope in others, pope urges at Easter
By CINDY WOODEN and JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published March 31, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Easter is a feast of hope, a celebration of God’s mercy and a call to pray for and assist all who suffer, Pope Francis said before giving his solemn blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world). The risen Jesus “makes us sharers of his immortal life and enables us to […]
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Pope condemns ‘blind violence,’ offers prayers after Brussels attacks
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published March 22, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis, condemning the “blind violence” of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, offered his prayers to the victims, the injured, their families and all those offering assistance in the aftermath of the bombings. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, sent the pope’s condolences March 22 to Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels. […]
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Give fragments of life, not doctrine, says preacher of Curia retreat
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published March 18, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Jesus’ call to be the salt of the earth is a reminder to his disciples to preach hope and life and not be wrapped up in dogmatic conundrums, a Servite priest told the pope and Vatican officials. “We are salt that has lost its flavor if we are not resolute men, if we […]
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Mother Teresa to be canonized Sept. 4
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published March 17, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis will declare Blessed Teresa of Kolkata a saint at the Vatican Sept. 4. The date was announced March 15 during an “ordinary public consistory,” a meeting of the pope, cardinals and promoters of sainthood causes that formally ends the sainthood process. At the same consistory, the pope set June 5 as […]
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Pope: Giving to the poor is essential during jubilee year
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published February 19, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—A jubilee year that does not open people’s wallets to share what they have with others is not a true jubilee, Pope Francis said. “This pope isn’t inventing that,” he insisted. “It’s in the Bible.” At his weekly general audience Feb. 10 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke about the description of […]
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Pope: Live your faith during Lent, perform works of mercy
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published February 5, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one’s faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said. “Faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and spirit,” the pope said in his message for Lent, which […] Full Story
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Don’t be afraid to show concern, fight poverty, pope tells global leaders
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published February 5, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Don’t be afraid of acting fairly and compassionately toward the poor, Pope Francis said in a written message to global business leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And do not let the sweeping innovations in robotics, science and technology “lead to the destruction of the human person—to be replaced by […]
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In new series on mercy, pope says God’s love ‘takes the first step’
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published January 21, 2016VATICAN CITY (CNS)—God’s mercy is constant and limitless; he is faithful in his mercy for his children, even when they are unfaithful, Pope Francis said. The greatness and power of God unfolds in his “love for us, who are so small, so incapable,” he said at his weekly general audience Jan. 13. In his first […]
