After years of frosty relations between France and the Holy See, François Hollande speaks from his heart to a pope who much prefers this attitude
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Posted inDispatches
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas to head new department for laity
Bishop Kevin Farrell is known as a pastor “with the smell of the sheep.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
How Pope Francis chooses new cardinals
In choosing new cardinals, Francis has been guided by five criteria.
Posted inDispatches
Pope Francis in Assisi: ‘The world needs forgiveness’
“How truly difficult it is for us to pardon those who have done us wrong!”
Posted inSigns Of the Times
World Youth Day Concludes With Message of Courage and Hope
Pope Francis bade farewell on July 31 to an estimated 1.6 million young people from 187 countries in Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day. In his homily at the festival Mass, he challenged them “to have the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies.”Franci
Posted inDispatches
Is the Holy See reaching a breakthrough with Beijing?
Cardinal Tong seeks to respond to those who wonder whether an agreement between the Holy See and Beijing “may be going against the principles of the church.”
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Vatican announces commission on women deacons
The commission includes six women among its twelve members, including Phyllis Zagano, who has written widely on the subject of women deacons.
Posted inDispatches
How Pope Francis made missionaries of three Argentinian teens at World Youth Day
“I feel the desire to go on mission and ‘shake things up’ (Hagan lio!), as Francis told us.”
Posted inDispatches
On plane back to Rome, Francis says, “To identify Islam with violence is not true.”
The pope also addresses problems in Turkey and Venezuela, and allegations against Cardinal Pell.
Posted inDispatches
Francis closes World Youth Day, telling crowd to take courage and “aim higher.”
After the homily centered on the story of Zacchaeus, the pope announced the next W.Y.D. in Panama in 2019.