Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pilgrims passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the Holy Year 2025, going to confession, receiving Communion and praying for the intentions of the pope can receive an indulgence, but so can inmates in prison and those who work to defend human life or assist migrants and refugees.
"The time has come for a new Jubilee when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ," Pope Francis said in a document formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish its new norms for the discernment of apparitions and other supernatural phenomena May 17, the Vatican press office said.
Pope urges reparation to the Sacred Heart
The spiritual practice of reparation "may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete" today, but it is essential for the promotion of justice and healing, including on behalf of those who have suffered abuse in the church, Pope Francis said.
Unity within Christian communities and the unity of all the churches will grow only as believers draw closer to Jesus and learn to be honest in examining if they are listening to the Holy Spirit or to their own preferences, Pope Francis told leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Italian PM says Pope Francis will join G7 discussion on AI
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that Pope Francis would participate in a G7 "outreach" discussion on artificial intelligence when the leaders of the world's leading industrialized nations countries meet in southern Italy in mid-June.
The reform projects launched by Pope Francis -- reforming not just institutions like the Roman Curia, but attitudes and pastoral approaches -- will not be reversed, even though some may take different forms in the future, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.
Dicastery condemns attacks on human dignity
Being a Christian means defending human dignity and that includes opposing abortion, the death penalty, gender transition surgery, war, sexual abuse and human trafficking, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a new document.
Easter is a promise that no matter how dark the world may seem and no matter how heavy the burdens one carries, victory belongs to the Risen Christ and all who believe in him, Pope Francis said.
As Pope Francis poured water over their feet, dried them with a towel and kissed their feet, 12 women inmates at Rome's Rebibbia prison wept.