Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
With the help of an expert canon lawyer, Pope Francis and members of his international Council of Cardinals discussed ways that the principles behind his reform of the Roman Curia also can be reflected in the structuring and functioning of diocesan chanceries.
In a Church that “bears the signs of serious crises of mistrust and lack of credibility,” members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops will be asked to find ways to build community, encourage the contribution of every baptized person and strengthen the Church’s primary mission of sharing the Gospel, said the working document for the October gathering.
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated a penitential rite at the basilica's main altar June 3 after a man climbed up on it naked before being apprehended.
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the retired archbishop of Naples, celebrated his 80th birthday June 2 and, consequently, became ineligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.
Pope Francis prayed that Catholics in China would be free to share the Gospel and live their faith fully.
"War is a pandemic. It involves us all," said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Italian prelate chosen by Pope Francis to lead an initiative for peace in Ukraine.
Pope Francis has asked Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna to lead a mission "to help ease tensions in the conflict in Ukraine," the Vatican press office said.
A popular blog that closely monitors the Vatican has reported that Pope Francis wants to send envoys to Moscow and Kyiv to begin discussions about achieving a truce.
Pope Francis updated the "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State," opening the possibility that laypeople can be members of its governing commission and emphasizing that the independence of the city-state is essential for the mission of the Holy See.
After literally hundreds of public prayers for peace in Ukraine and 443 days after Russia launched an all-out war on the Eastern European country, Pope Francis welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Vatican.