Tag: Pope Francis

• Friday, April 19th 2013 - 05:33 UTC

  Argentine Catholic Church criticism of judicial reform triggers ironic statements from Senator

  

  The Cristina Fernandez administration renewed relations with the Catholic Church, since the naming of Cardinal Bergoglio from Buenos Aires Pope Francis could be facing their first challenge because of the controversial judicial reform the Argentine president is pushing through congress.

• Monday, April 15th 2013 - 03:01 UTC

  Francis names advisory board of cardinals to advise on reforming the Curia

  

  Pope Francis, in his first major decision, set up an advisory board of cardinals from around the world to help him govern the Catholic Church and reform its troubled central administration.

• Tuesday, April 9th 2013 - 07:12 UTC

  Francis underlined Baroness Thatcher’s commitment to promoting freedom among the family of nations

  

  Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and appreciative of the Christian values that underpinned her commitment to service and promotion of freedom.

• Saturday, April 6th 2013 - 03:55 UTC

  Francis calls for “decisive action” in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priest

  

  Pope Francis has called for “decisive action” in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests. He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith - the Vatican watchdog that deals with sex abuse cases - to ensure that perpetrators were punished.

• Wednesday, April 3rd 2013 - 03:49 UTC

  Francis first real challenge: re-structuring the scandal ridden Vatican bank

  

  Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty, could restructure or even close the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of its troubled bureaucracy, Vatican sources say.

• Wednesday, March 27th 2013 - 07:57 UTC

  Francis scheduled to visit Argentina, Chile and Uruguay next December

  

  Pope Francis is scheduled to make his first official visit to Argentina, where he was born, next December ‘to be close to his fellow compatriots’, according to ecclesiastic sources in Buenos Aires. The visit in the first half of December could extend to neighbouring Uruguay and Chile.

• Saturday, March 23rd 2013 - 10:55 UTC

  Timerman denies any Argentine government plot to discredit election of Francis

  

  Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman rejected allegations about an alleged “discrediting operation” by Argentina’s ambassador to the Vatican Juan Pablo Cafiero to stop the election of former Buenos Aires city archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope and denied that the government has changed its opinion about now Francis.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 23:09 UTC

  The Pope is Argentine, but God is Brazilian, says Rousseff; Francis is expected in Rio next July

  

  Argentines are lucky because they have a great Pope, but “if the Pope is Argentine, God is Brazilian”, said Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday following her half hour meeting with Francis and asked by Argentine reporters her impression of the new pontiff.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:54 UTC

  Francis inaugurates papacy with little pomp and much contact with the faithful

  

  Pope Francis on Tuesday inaugurated his papacy with a Mass in front of hundreds of thousands of people, foreign leaders and the Orthodox Christians Patriarch (first time since the great schism of 1054) in St. Peter's Square with a simplified rite that fuelled hopes for change in the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:50 UTC

  Francis calls on world leaders ‘to be protectors of one another and of the environment’

  

  Under bright sunshine in St. Peter's Square, the Argentine pope insisted with his constant message since he was elected by a secret conclave of cardinals last week: that the Church's mission was to defend the poor and disadvantaged. Francis also called on leaders to protect the people and respect the environment.