Pope Francis is going to Albania on Sunday Sept 21 It is his first visit to a European country and he has chosen to go to the only majority Muslim country on the periphery of the old continent where Christians and Muslims who suffered under communism now live together in harmony and have formed
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 inVatican Dispatch
Bit by Bit, A World at War
Pope Francis wants to stop the downward spiral of inhumanity, and believes the media can play an important role.
Posted inIn All Things
Pope Francis Invites China’s President to Meeting on World Peace
Pope Francis has invited the President of China Xi Jinping to meet him in the Vatican to discuss world peace but he has also expressed his own willingness to travel ldquo tomorrow rdquo to Beijing for this same purpose if that were preferable He issued the invitation in a letter which he signe
Posted inIn All Things
Exclusive Interview with Bishop Shomali: Strong U.S. Mediation Needed To Avoid Another War
“We have to tell people, tell politicians, to work harder because peace is possible.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
China: Yes and No to Francis
Some Chinese youths risked their security to see the pope and attend Asian Youth Day.
Posted inIn All Things
Fourteen Married Couples Among 253 Participants at Synod on the Family
The Vatican has published the names of the 253 persons who will participate at the Synod of Bishops on the Family October 5-19 Among them are cardinals bishops priests men and women religious 14 married couples and representatives of the other Christian churches Since this is an Extraordinary
Posted inIn All Things
Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Ireland’s Cardinal Sean Brady
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady the Primate of All Ireland less than a month after he turned 75 the official age of retirement for a bishop The Vatican gave no reason for the pope rsquo s decision but informed sources say it is directly linked to the cardinal rsq
Posted inInterviews, Politics & Society
Israeli Jesuit Father David Neuhaus: The first step to peace in the Holy Land is ending the occupation
Escalating violence between Israel and Palestine has left at least 213 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel dead since the outbreak of hostilities on May 11. In 2014, we spoke to Israeli Jesuit Father David Neuhaus on the more than six decades of conflict in the Holy Land.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Francis in Korea: Gerard O’Connell reports from pope’s first trip to Asia
Following Francis (9/1)Full Text Of Pope Francis' Press Conference On Plane Returning From Korea (8/18) Pope Opens New Horizons for Church's Dialogue in Asia (8/17) Pope Calls On Koreans To 'Follow the Lead of The Martyrs' (8/16)Pope Presents Gospel as Antido
Posted inSigns Of the Times
Former Nuncio Defrocked, Loses Diplomatic Immunity
The Vatican has clarified the current legal standing of its former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, and has denied allegations that it acted in a manner meant to shield him from judicial proceedings in that Latin American state or in his native Poland. Wesolowski is accused of the