By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Recognizing “the gifts of each baptized person” — women and men — Pope Francis ordered a change to canon law and liturgical norms so that women could be formally installed as lectors and acolytes. “A consolidated practice in the Latin church has confirmed, in fact, that […]
Pope on Christmas: Share hope, promote peace, give vaccine to all
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — On a Christmas like no other, Pope Francis prayed for people who could not be with their families because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he urged everyone to recognize and help those who are suffering even more. From inside the Hall of Blessings — a long, […]
Pope says God gives all the task of being peacemakers
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — As the Catholic Church celebrated World Peace Day Jan. 1, Pope Francis offered prayers for the people of war-torn Yemen, especially the nation’s children left without education and often without food by years of civil war. Reciting the Angelus from the library of the Apostolic Palace, […]
Pope’s year: Pandemic, prayer, online meetings, hopes for change
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Like everyone else, Pope Francis’ 2020 was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, livestreamed Masses, video messages and even something akin to Zoom meetings became a regular part of his life, just like for millions of people around the world. But when he walked alone into […]
Pope to celebrate early Eve due to COVID curfew
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will celebrate the Vatican’s traditional Christmas “Mass during the Night” Dec. 24, but will begin the liturgy at 7:30 p.m. local time so that the few people invited to attend can get home in time to observe Italy’s 10 p.m. curfew. The curfew is […]
‘Make space at the table’: In his new book, Pope Francis urges the valuing, welcoming of all human life
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis admits he is not an economist, but he is a pastor. And as a pastor, he has seen how the global economy has cast aside many members of his flock, and he knows that the Gospel and Catholic social teaching call for a different […]
The Holy Father’s life-changing ‘lockdowns’
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — While the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have interrupted people’s lives and brought suffering on a global scale, every individual — including the pope — has or will experience traumatic interruptions in their lives, Pope Francis said in a new book. “Illness, the failure of a marriage […]
Pope creates 13 new cardinals, including D.C. archbishop
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens — Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat — knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status […]
Counting cardinals: Congregations, continents represented increase
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — With Pope Francis’ new picks for the College of Cardinals, the body will be more religious than ever — in the sense that the number of cardinals coming from religious orders will rise to 51. The Jesuit pope’s confreres do not lead the tally; in first […]
Transcript shows pope’s distinction between gay marriage, civil unions
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY—When Pope Francis said gay people have a right to be in a family and that gay couples needed some form of civil law to protect their rights, he was not saying that gay couples should have a right to adopt children. In his documentary “Francesco,” director Evgeny […]
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