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 attends the first session Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 7, 2019.

Synod's first week focused on ministry, ecology, mission

VATICAN CITY -- The first week of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon saw support for the priestly ordination of married indigenous men, impassioned pleas for respect for indigenous culture and denunciations of violence against the earth.

Domenico Giani, lead bodyguard for Pope Francis and head of the Vatican police force, keeps watch as the pope leaves his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 1, 2019. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Giani Oct. 14, nearly two weeks after an internal security notice was leaked to the Italian press.

Vatican security chief resigns following leak of internal document

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Domenico Giani, head of the Vatican police, nearly two weeks after an internal security notice was leaked to the Italian press.

Britain's Prince Charles waits for the start of the canonization Mass for five new saints celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 13, 2019.

Prince Charles praises St. Newman

VATICAN CITY -- On the eve of the canonization of St. John Henry Newman, Britain's Prince Charles penned an article about England's newest saint for the Vatican newspaper.

Pope Francis celebrates the canonization Mass for five new saints in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 13, 2019.

Pope Francis declares Cardinal Newman, four others saints

VATICAN CITY -- Saints are people who recognized their need for God's help, who took risks to discover God's will and to help others and who nurtured a habit of thanksgiving, Pope Francis said.

Indigenous people take part in a protest against Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno's austerity measures in Quito, Ecuador, Oct.11, 2019. Ecuadorian observers at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican are keeping an eye on massive protests that have claimed the lives of at least five people in their country.

Protests in Ecuador draw eyes of synod participants

ROME -- Ecuadorian observers at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon are keeping an eye on massive protests that have claimed the lives of five people in their country.

Sister Alba Teresa Cediel Castillo, an indigenous member of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of St. Catherine of Siena, speaks at a news briefing after the first session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 7, 2019.

Theologian: Women religious should have vote at synod

VATICAN CITY -- While the Catholic Church has made strides to include the voice of women, especially in the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, women should be included among synod voting members and in church leadership positions, a German theologian said.

A banner of Blessed John Henry Newman hangs on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 10, 2019. He is among five people to be canonized by Pope Francis Oct. 13.

Banners unfurled in St. Peter's Square in preparation for canonizations

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican hung banners of the Catholic Church's newly canonized saints four days before the Mass that would officially recognize that they are in heaven with God.

Celestina Fernandes da Silva, a Catholic activist, waters flowers in front of her home in the Wapishana indigenous village of Tabalascada, Brazil, April 3, 2019. Franciscan Father Joao Messias Sousa, who works among indigenous in the Amazon, said the people believe "God is in all things, but those things are not gods."

Synod looks at indigenous 'theology of creation'

VATICAN CITY -- By demanding respect for the cultures of indigenous peoples, Pope Francis was not promoting pantheism, but -- tapping into his Jesuit roots -- urging respect for a worldview that sees God in all things.

Brazilian Bishop Wilmar Santin of Itaituba speaks at a press briefing following a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 10, 2019. Also pictured is Cristiane Murray, vice director of the Vatican Press Office.

Bishop highlights need for lay ministries in Amazon

VATICAN CITY -- Lay men and women involved in ministry have been fundamental in spreading the Gospel and furthering the Catholic Church's mission in the Amazon, a Brazilian bishop said.

Retired Bishop Erwin Krautler of Xingu, Brazil, talks with Cristiane Murray, vice director of the Vatican Press Office, during a press briefing following a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 9, 2019.

Most Amazon bishops support 'viri probati,' women deacons

VATICAN CITY -- Most bishops who lead dioceses in the Amazon support the ordination of married men of proven virtue, or "viri probati," as a way of addressing the lack of priests in the region, a Brazilian bishop said.

Pope Francis leads a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 8, 2019.

Synod participants: Catholics must recognize 'ecological sins'

VATICAN CITY -- Synod members called for the Catholic Church to deepen its theology in a way that would help people recognize "ecological sins."

Page 55 of 255