Vatican City
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Synod ends by affirming tradition, leaving controversial questions open
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published October 18, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—After several days of animated debate over its official midterm report, the Synod of Bishops on the family agreed on a final document more clearly grounded in traditional Catholic teaching. Yet the assembly failed to reach consensus on especially controversial questions of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried and the pastoral care […] Full Story
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Synod of Bishops sends message of encouragement to traditional families
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published October 18, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—On its last day of business, the Synod of Bishops on the family approved and released a three-page message expressing solidarity with Christian families around the world. The message, released Oct. 18, is distinct from the synod’s final report, which the assembly was scheduled to vote on later the same day. Following two […] Full Story
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Speechless at refugees’ plight, pope prays for open hearts
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published October 17, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—People need to open their hearts to the many people who are forced to migrate as they face enormous difficulties and sometimes tragedy, Pope Francis said. “I pray for closed hearts that they may open. And everything I have available to me, is available to you,” he told a group of young Eritreans […] Full Story
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Family synod midterm report: Welcome gays, couples not in sacramental marriages
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—In strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching, an official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops on the family emphasized calls for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and homosexuals. “It is necessary to accept people in their concrete being, to know how to support […]
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Look to the East for canonical-spiritual balance, synod members say
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—By tapping into its Eastern theological and spiritual traditions, the Catholic Church could find an appropriate way to minister to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics and others in situations the church considers irregular, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said. “According to the tradition of the Byzantine church, a priest or a […]
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Synod sends message, prayers to families suffering because of war
Published October 16, 2014
VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Gathered with Pope Francis, members of the Synod of Bishops on the family issued a message of solidarity, support and prayers for all families suffering the impact of war and violence, especially in Iraq and Syria. The members prayed particularly for those who, “because of the Christian faith they profess or because they […] Full Story
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Married life is better with NFP, say couples at synod
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Catholic couples who ignore church teaching on contraception “don’t know what they are missing,” said a U.S. couple invited to address the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family. Alice and Jeff Heinzen, family life leaders in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., spoke at the synod Oct. 7, urging efforts to find […] Full Story
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Midterm report from Bishops’ Synod stirs controversy, discussion
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which uses strikingly conciliatory language toward divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and same-sex unions, has proven highly controversial inside and outside the synod hall, with some synod fathers saying it does not accurately reflect the assembly’s views. Following a nearly hourlong speech Oct. […]
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At wedding, pope says spouses make each other better people
By FRANCIS X. ROCCA, Catholic News Service
Published September 18, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Presiding over the wedding of 20 couples in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated marriage as the union of a man and woman playing complementary roles during their common journey through life. “This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever […]
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Pope: People have yet to learn that war is madness, indifference a sin
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published September 18, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—When will people ever learn that war is madness and conflicts are only resolved by forgiveness, Pope Francis asked. The pope said it is believed that more than 8 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died during World War I—a four-year-long conflict that began 100 years ago. The number of so many lost […] Full Story
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Peres: Pope only leader respected enough to end wars
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published September 5, 2014VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Former Israeli President Shimon Peres asked Pope Francis to head a parallel United Nations called the “United Religions” to counter religious extremism in the world today. “In the past, most wars were motivated by the idea of nationhood. Today, however, wars are incited above all using religion as an excuse,” Peres told the […]
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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 … Continue reading Pope to Gaza’s Catholics: Be Christ’s witness in conflict
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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
