exclamation

Important notice: To continue serving our valued readers during the postal disruption, complete unrestricted access to the digital edition is available at no extra cost. This will ensure uninterrupted digital access to your copies. Click here to view the digital edition, or learn more.

Subscribe to this RSS feed
Pope Francis waves as he arrives to attend an audience with some 9,000 altar servers in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Aug. 4.

Church must welcome divorced, remarried Catholics, Pope says

Speaking out on one of the most contentious issues of his papacy, Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the Church to embrace Catholics who have divorced and remarried, telling a gathering at the Vatican Aug. 5 that such couples “are not excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way.”

Pope Francis hears confession during a penitential liturgy in early March in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. During his Aug. 2 Angelus, Pope Francis told people not to be afraid or ashamed to go to confession.

Don’t be afraid or ashamed to go to confession, Pope says

VATICAN CITY - Trusting in God's infinite mercy, people should not be afraid or embarrassed to go to confession, Pope Francis said.

"There are people who are afraid to go to confession, forgetting that they will not encounter a severe judge there, but the immensely merciful Father," Pope Francis told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square Aug. 2 for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.

Pope Francis drinks mate, the traditional Argentine herbal tea, as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Aug. 27, 2014. The tea was presented by someone in the crowd. In Argentina, drinking mate is a social event and helps to lower cholesterol.

The Pope's 'staycation': Correspondence, trip preparation fill his days

VATICAN CITY - Returning to the Vatican in the midst of a heat wave after an eight-day, three-country trip to South America, Pope Francis took the kind of vacation he said he prefers: what has become known as a "staycation."

A woman buys a copy of Italian newspaper La Repubblica in Rome October 22, 2009.

Vatican bans La Repubblica journalist from travelling with Pope

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has banned an Italian journalist from the papal plane during Pope Francis’ trip to the United States as punishment for his newspaper’s role in breaching the embargo on the pontiff’s hotly anticipated encyclical.

Pope Francis addresses mayors from around the world at a workshop on climate change and human trafficking in the synod hall at the Vatican July 21. Local government leaders were invited by the pontifical academies of sciences and social sciences to sign a declaration recognizing that climate change and extreme poverty are influenced by human activity. Also pictured is Cardinal Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, Italy.

Mayors discuss ways to promote equality, environmental protection

VATICAN CITY - Many of the mayors who met July 21 with Pope Francis stayed at the Vatican for a second day of discussions focused on city planning that promotes economic growth, equality and environmental protection simultaneously.

Using a new accounting reporting standard, The Vatican discovered a profit of over $53 million after paying back its deficit. The revenue mostly came from Vatican Museums, pictured above, “cultural activities” and investments.

Vatican looks under the cushions and finds $1.3 billion in assets

VATICAN CITY - The Holy See is more than a billion dollars richer than previously known and the Vatican turned a 2014 profit of CDN $53.4 million, according to figures released on July 16.

Vatican court delays abuse trial after ex-nuncio hospitalized

Vatican court delays abuse trial after ex-nuncio hospitalized

VATICAN CITY - Vatican magistrates have decided to postpone the proceedings of a criminal trial against a former Vatican nuncio due to the defendant's ill health.

Kites in the form of birds are flown by environmental activists in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 28. Some 1,500 people marched to the Vatican in support of Pope Francis' recent encyclical on the environment.

Thousands march in Rome to show support for Pope Francis’ call for climate action

ROME - Religious leaders from across the globe led a “Many Faiths — One Planet” march to the Vatican June 28, to show their support of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking environmental encyclical.

The Pope in his encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," released June 18, said all creation is singing God's praise but people are silencing it.

Francis opens dialogue on our common home

Pope Francis has given the world a choice between “debris, desolation and filth” or “a serene harmony with creation.” The path we take, both individually and on a global scale, depends upon a clear-eyed view of reality and the deep connection we experience as God’s creatures with one another, with our world and with God.

What kind of world will we leave our children?

What kind of world will we leave our children?

On June 18, Pope Francis released his long-anticipated encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.

The Fr. James Corkery, theology professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University; the Fr. Hans Zollner, president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection; Bishop Edward J. Burns, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on child protection; Sr. Sara Butler, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology; and Philippa Hitchen, journalist at Vatican Radio, speak to the press during a conference on how to handle the current clergy sex abuse crisis.

Rome summit looks to improve church’s handling of child sexual abuse

ROME - As the Vatican continues to work on policies to combat clergy sex abuse, a leading pontifical university in Rome hosted a conference this week on how the Catholic Church can better address the current crisis and released details of a new diploma program on protecting children.

Page 178 of 256