Pope Francis will create 21 new cardinals on December 8, 20 of whom can vote for a new pope. Among them are Frank Leo, archbishop of Toronto, and Timothy Radcliffe, former master of the Dominicans.
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, Synod Diary
Synod Diary: The synod’s call to conversion
Conversion is never easy, but participants from all continents must undergo conversion if the synod is to successfully carry out its task, Gerard O’Connell writes.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis addresses war in the Middle East, sexual abuse and abortion on plane home from Belgium
Pope Francis answered questions on Israel, sexual abuse, the role of women in society and abortion.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
In Belgium, Pope Francis seeks to reinvigorate a church disheartened by the abuse crisis
Pope Francis sought to encourage and reinvigorate the Catholic Church in Belgium, which has been disheartened by the abuse crisis.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis says ‘the church should be ashamed of itself’ for the sex abuse crisis in hard-hit Belgium
The prime minister’s speech at the start of Pope Francis’ visit was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip and underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis praises Luxembourg’s culture of welcome, ‘open doors’ to migrants
During a brief visit to Luxembourg, Pope Francis recalled the nation’s painful history and lauded its welcome to immigrants, encouraging its people “to be faithful to this legacy.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
What to expect during Pope Francis’ visit to Luxembourg and Belgium
Pope Francis is expected to speak about war and peace, the migrant crisis, ecology, secularization and the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Vatican cancels papal audiences because Pope Francis has ‘slight flu’
Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, has not rested one day since his return from the East on Friday, Sept. 13.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis says tax billionaires, stop sports betting in fiery economics speech
In a talk to leaders of popular grassroots movements, Pope Francis said, “It is often precisely the wealthiest who oppose the realization of social justice or integral ecology out of sheer greed.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Vatican finally approves Medjugorje devotion: visit Mary but not the visionaries
The Vatican has approved the promotion of devotion to the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje but did not make any declaration on the alleged supernatural character of the Marian apparitions there.