“One of the first things that dictators do is to remove the freedom of the press,” he said.
Vatican Dispatch
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis authorizes the organization of pilgrimages to Medjugorje
Pope Francis has authorized the organization of pilgrimages to the Marian shrine of Medjugorje, the Vatican announced today.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis tells women religious church cannot alter revelation on women’s diaconate
“In regard to the diaconate we must see what was there at the beginning of revelation, if there was something, let it grow and it arrives, but if there was not, if the Lord didn’t want a sacramental ministry for women, it can’t go forward.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis issues new rules for accountability and response to allegations of sexual abuse
Pope Francis today issued a wide-ranging decree, known as a “motu proprio” or executive decree, that lays down procedures and norms for reporting abuse in the church, aimed at the eradication of abuse in the church.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis says commission on women deacons did not reach agreement
Pope Francis said, “There were deaconesses at the beginning [of the church], but [the question is] was theirs a sacramental ordination or not?”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis makes history in North Macedonia
He visited Mother Teresa’s memorial, saw relics of “the saint of the slums” and recited a prayer that he had personally composed. He praised God for the gift of her life and prayed for her intercession for North Macedonia.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
In North Macedonia, Pope Francis encourages peace, prays at Mother Teresa memorial
Pope Francis is the first pope to visit North Macedonia, where Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis ends visit to Bulgaria, urging its religious leaders to work for peace
Like Saint Francis, the pope said, “each of us is called to follow in his footsteps by becoming a peacemaker, an ‘artisan’ of peace.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis celebrates first Communion with 245 children in Bulgaria
Even as pope, Francis considers himself a parish priest—“the world’s parish priest” as he once told a friend. This morning, he presided in a small Catholic enclave more than 100 miles from Sofia, the capital city.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis meets with Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch Neofit
The meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Neofit was only the second meeting in more than a thousand years between a pope and a Bulgarian Orthodox patriarch.