Tag: Vatican

• Friday, October 4th 2019 - 09:49 UTC

  Pope looking into options to recruiting more priests in the Amazon region

  

  A shortage of Catholic priests in the Amazon is eroding the church's influence in the remote region, bishops in Brazil and Peru warn, ahead of a Vatican synod dedicated to the rainforest. Wilmar Santin, one of the scores of Brazilian bishops set to attend the Oct 6-27 gathering, says the church is ceding ground to more nimble Evangelical rivals and needs to lift its game.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  Image of Virgin of Lujan taken to Falklands during the war to be returned at ceremony blessed by the Pope

  

  An image of Argentina's saint patron, the Virgin of Lujan, which was carried to the Falklands during the 1982 conflict, and remained unaccounted for during years, will be returned by the United Kingdom. In retribution, the Argentine military bishop will hand a replica of the image to the head of British military chaplains in a ceremony to take place next month in the Vatican with Pope Francis blessing the images.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2019 - 09:38 UTC

  Vatican will have a Permanent Observer at OAS

  

  The Organization of American States, OAS, will have a new Permanent Observer, from the Vatican, Monsignor Mark Gerald Miles, who on Monday presented his credentials to Secretary-General Luis Almagro.

• Wednesday, September 11th 2019 - 09:15 UTC

  Pope Francis challenges ultra conservative cardinals: “I'm not afraid of schims”

  

  Pope Francis said on Tuesday he was “not afraid” of a schism in the Roman Catholic Church, in reference to attacks by conservative cardinals who frequently take aim at his papacy.

• Monday, September 2nd 2019 - 08:39 UTC

  Francis stamps his legacy: names 13 new “progressive on social issues” cardinals

  

  Pope Francis appointed 13 new cardinals in a surprise move on Sunday, again putting his stamp on the future of a Church he wants to be more open as most of those named are considered progressive on social issues.

• Monday, September 2nd 2019 - 08:30 UTC

  Good humored Pope has Vatican google “how to get out of a stuck elevator”

  

  Pope Francis said on Sunday he was late to his weekly Angelus prayer because he had been stuck in a Vatican elevator and had to be freed by firemen. He followed the tale of his rescue with a surprise announcement about the creation of 13 new cardinals of the Catholic Church - including 10 possible future popes.

• Friday, July 5th 2019 - 15:36 UTC

  Putin meets the Pope and visits his populist coalition friends in Rome

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a lightning visit to Rome on Thursday, including talks with the pope, hailing efforts by Italy's populist government to ease sanctions despite Moscow's ongoing crisis with the West. Rome's historic centre was on security lockdown for the visit, with 50 streets blocked to traffic.

• Tuesday, June 11th 2019 - 09:31 UTC

  Vatican joins gender identity debate: it can “annihilate the concept of nature and destabilize the family institution”

  

  The Vatican has released a new document challenging modern conceptions of gender identity. The 31-page teaching guidance, released on Monday, is titled Male and Female He Created Them. It speaks of an “educational crisis” and says the current debate can “annihilate the concept of nature” and destabilize the family institution.

• Tuesday, May 7th 2019 - 08:32 UTC

  Pope Francis tells Argentine bishops he desires to visit his homeland in the near future

  

  Despite stating at the outset that he didn’t like travel and didn’t plan to do much of it, during the first six years of his pontificate Pope Francis made close to 30 international trips, including visiting virtually every country of Latin America. Yet there’s one glaring exception: his home country, Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 09:35 UTC

  Vatican denounces widespread inequality in the world during the Good Friday service

  

  Pope Francis listened as a preacher denounced the widespread inequality in the world at a Good Friday service on the day Christians recall Jesus' death by crucifixion. During the “Passion of the Lord” service in St Peter's Basilica, songs in Latin recounted the last hours in Jesus' life, from his arrest to his burial.