The image of Pope Francis, all alone on the side of the lake, imploring God for healing, will surely remain as an iconic image of this penitential pilgrimage.
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 condemns forced assimilation of Canada’s residential schools as ‘incompatible with the Gospel’
Pope Francis condemned Canada’s residential school system as “a deplorable evil” and asked forgiveness of the Indigenous Peoples for Christians participation in it.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis’ historic trip to the Indigenous People in Canada: What you need to know
From July 24 to July 29, Pope Francis will meet with Indigenous People in Canada to apologize and ask forgiveness, on their land, for abuses perpetrated in largely Catholic Church-run residential schools.
Posted inPolitics & Society
Interview: The Vatican has a ‘very positive relationship’ with the Biden administration
Archbishop Gallagher on U.S.-Vatican relations, the Holy See joining the Paris climate agreement and where Pope Francis hopes to visit in the coming year.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Interview: The future of Vatican-China relations, and whether the agreement on bishops has paid off
Four years after the Holy See and China reached a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, Archbishop Paul Gallagher says the results are “not terribly impressive.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Interview: Archbishop Gallagher on Vatican diplomacy, Ukraine and the threat of World War III
“We’re getting to a very dangerous situation worldwide,” the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states said, “and it wouldn’t take much to make things even worse” and to arrive at “a world in conflict.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis describes his upcoming visit to Canada as a ‘penitential pilgrimage’
Pope Francis says he will make “a penitential pilgrimage” to Canada July 24 to embrace and contribute to healing and reconciliation with its Indigenous peoples
Posted inDispatches, Faith
For the first time ever, Pope Francis appoints three women to the Vatican office that selects bishops
Continuing with determination to open up new positions of responsibility for women in the Roman Curia, Pope Francis has appointed three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Birth control, IVF, euthanasia: The Vatican encouraged dialogue on polarizing life issues. Is a papal encyclical next?
Were a papal document forthcoming it could lead to a new and definitive papal teaching document on issues as polarizing as contraception, assisted procreation and palliative care.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis appeals for peace in Sri Lanka and assistance to its suffering people
The pope joined the Sri Lanakan Catholic bishops in an “appeal for peace” and to the country’s political leaders “not to ignore the cry of the poor and the needs of the people.”