The Rev. Scott Deeley, assistant chancellor of the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, said that while the church “won’t be telling people how to vote” in the fall 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, “some bishops have indicated unofficially they’d have no problem with independence.” • Foreign Policy magazine included Pope Francis and Carolyn Woo, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Relief Services, among the 500 most powerful people in the world in its May/June issue. • Israel’s President Shimon Peres, named an honorary citizen of Assisi, Italy, on May 1, noted that St. Francis of Assisi called people “to love the faith and the poor, to pursue the value of peace and to respect nature,” precepts that are of “fundamental importance today just as they were in 1208.” • It was announced on May 3 that Pope Francis has appointed Michael Barber, S.J., director of spiritual formation at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., to be bishop of Oakland, Calif. • The Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi, S.J., said on April 25 that he “would not exclude” the possibility of the publication of Pope Francis’ first
News Briefs
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.