Vatican City
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Pope to Gaza’s Catholics: Be Christ’s witness in conflict
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published September 4, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The priest leading the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic parish met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, thanking him for his support of those suffering in the war-torn territory. Argentine Father Jorge Hernandez of the Institute of the Incarnate Word had a 45-minute private meeting with the pope Aug. 29—just days after the start […] Full Story
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Pope’s envoy to Iraq calls for international action against ISIS
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published August 21, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis’ personal envoy to the suffering people of Iraq joined the Chaldean Catholic patriarch in launching an appeal to the international community Aug. 18, pleading for help to liberate villages controlled by the Islamic State terrorists and to provide the displaced with international protection. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who has been in Iraq […] Full Story
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Pope to send envoy to Christians forced from their homes in Iraq
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published August 9, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Given the “grave situation in Iraq,” Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Fernando Filoni to travel to the region to meet church and government officials, but especially to meet Christians chased from their homes by militants of the Islamic State. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said Aug. 8 the pope chose Cardinal Filoni, […] Full Story
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Sudanese Catholic condemned for apostasy freed, meets pope
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published August 7, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Meeting a Sudanese woman who risked execution for not renouncing her Catholic faith, Pope Francis thanked Meriam Ibrahim for her steadfast witness to Christ. The pope spent 30 minutes with Ibrahim, her husband and two small children July 24, just hours after she had arrived safely in Italy following a brutal ordeal of […] Full Story
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In recent interview, Pope Francis reveals top 10 secrets to happiness
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published August 7, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Slowing down, being generous and fighting for peace are part of Pope Francis’ secret recipe for happiness. In an interview published in part in the Argentine weekly “Viva” July 27, the pope listed his Top 10 tips for bringing greater joy to one’s life: 1. “Live and let live.” Everyone should be guided […] Full Story
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Sign of peace at Mass: Vatican says it stays put, but urges education
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published August 7, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The sign of peace at Mass has not always led to serenity among liturgists or within the congregations gathered each Sunday in Catholic churches around the world. After nine years of study and consultation, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has told Latin-rite bishops around the world that the sign of […] Full Story
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Pope calls for prayers as militants chase all Christians out of Mosul
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published July 24, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—As the last Iraqi Christians in Mosul fled the city, Pope Francis urgently called for prayers, dialogue and peace. “Violence isn’t overcome with violence. Violence is conquered with peace,” the pope said before leading thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in a moment of silent prayer July 20. “Our brothers and […]
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Letting 50 percent of youth be jobless is a ‘defeat,’ Pope Francis says
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published July 24, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Job creation and respect for the environment were recurring themes as Pope Francis visited the southern Italian region of Molise July 5. “We cannot resign ourselves to losing a whole generation of young people who don’t have the strong dignity of work,” Pope Francis said during a meeting with the region’s young people […] Full Story
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Pope phones rabbi, expresses sorrow over Israeli teens’ murder
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published July 10, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis telephoned Rome’s chief rabbi to personally express his sadness over the murder of three kidnapped Israeli teens whose bodies were found June 30 in Hebron, West Bank. Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said the pope phoned him at home late in the afternoon July 1 and said: “Good evening. This is Pope […] Full Story
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Pope meets sex abuse victims, says clergy actions cloaked in complicity
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published July 10, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Asking for forgiveness, Pope Francis told abuse survivors that “despicable actions” caused by clergy have been hidden for too long and had been “camouflaged with a complicity that cannot be explained.” “There is no place in the church’s ministry for those who commit these abuses, and I commit myself not to tolerate harm […] Full Story
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Pope condemns mafia, says members are excommunicated
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published June 27, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—In the stronghold of an Italian crime syndicate believed to be richer and more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia, Pope Francis said, “Those who follow the path of evil, like the mafiosi do, are not in communion with God; they are excommunicated!” During a Mass June 21 in the southern region of Calabria, […] Full Story
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Pope tells presidents only God can bring peace to Holy Land
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published June 12, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil. “More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety […] Full Story
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Pope prays for suffering immigrants, miners, speaks of need for fortitude
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published May 29, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—God is always by our side, never giving us more than we can handle, Pope Francis said. The countless women and men who stand tall through enormous difficulties, pain and especially persecution, are armed with the divine gift of fortitude that gives them the strength and hope to go on, he said. “It […] Full Story
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Pope: Holy Spirit sends ‘counsel’ through people of faith, prayers
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published May 15, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Never forget to pray, even while commuting, taking a walk or waiting in line, Pope Francis said. And don’t just stick to prayers memorized from childhood, but include heartfelt requests and pleas for help, advice and guidance, he said. During his general audience May 7, the pope continued a series of talks on […] Full Story
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Pope’s homilies help Catholics fight the good fight, Jesuit says
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published May 1, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis’ morning homilies represent a rallying cry and “road map” for today’s Christians in their daily journey to grow closer to God, said the Jesuit editor of a new collection of the homilies from the pope’s early morning Masses. Each reflection the pope delivers in the chapel of his residence, the Domus […] Full Story
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Pope Francis, with retired pope, canonizes Sts. John and John Paul
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published May 1, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic Church in fidelity to its ancient traditions. “They were priests, bishops and popes […] Full Story
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Panel of cardinals to advise pope on Vatican reform
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, CNS
Published May 1, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Amid rising concerns about corruption and mismanagement in the central administration of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis named an international panel of cardinals to advise him on the latest reform of the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican Secretariat of State announced April 13 that the pope had established the group—which includes Boston Cardinal Sean […] Full Story
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Easter proclaims that love gives life, pope says; share it with others
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 22, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Francis urged Christians to remember how they first encountered Christ and to share his love and mercy with others, especially through acts of caring and sharing. Proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ resurrection means giving concrete witness “to unconditional and faithful love,” he said April 20 before solemnly giving his blessing “urbi […] Full Story
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Pope apologizes for clerical sex abuse, promises tough sanctions
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 22, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—“I feel called to take responsibility for all the evil some priests—large in number, but not in proportion to the total—have committed and to ask forgiveness for the damage they’ve done with the sexual abuse of children,” Pope Francis said. “The church is aware of this damage” and is committed to strengthening child […] Full Story
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Pope, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth have informal meeting at Vatican
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 4, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—In their first overseas trip in three years, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, met April 3 with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The 30-minute visit of the 87-year-old queen and her 92-year-old husband demonstrates “the importance that she places on this relationship with the Holy […] Full Story
