“[Y]our history and the events of your beloved people stir in me admiration and sorrow,” says Pope Francis to the Armenian people in preparation for his visit on June 24-26.
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 inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis’ case against the death penalty
“‘You shall not kill’ has absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty.”
Posted inDispatches
A controversy erupts after Pope Francis comments on marriage
Did the pope say a majority of marriages are null?
Posted inDispatches
Shanghai’s Bishop Ma stuns Chinese Catholics with public recantation
Bishop Ma’s sudden decision to recant has sent “shockwaves” through China’s community of some 12 million Catholics.
Posted inDispatches
Pope Francis: In today’s world “wars are fed, not persons.”
At the annual meeting of the World Food Program, the pope said we need to “de-naturalize” extreme poverty.
Posted inDispatches
Today Pope Francis met with the mother of the only Argentinian on death row in the United States.
Victor Soldano has been on death row in Texas since 1996 when he was first convicted for murder.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
When will Pope Francis go to Cairo?
“This is the time to move out from the era of analysis and to begin concrete actions.”
Posted inDispatches
Last minute objections threaten first Pan-Orthodox council in over 1,000 years
Churches in Antioch and Bulgaria announced they would not participate unless certain questions are resolved beforehand.
Posted inNews
Vatican summit sets goals to combat human trafficking
Pope Francis and criminal-justice officials declare prostitution, forced labor and organ trafficking as “Crimes against Humanity.”
Posted inNews
Pope issues decree for removing bishops negligent in protecting minors from sex abuse
The decree makes it possible to remove diocesan bishops for neglecting to protect children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse.