“Praise increases joy. Praise is like a ladder: it leads hearts upward,” Pope Francis said. “Praise elevates souls and defeats the temptation to give up.”
Ukraine
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
‘He is helping us!’ Zelensky discusses Pope Francis’ peace efforts in Ukraine in new interview
“I have had two [face-to-face] meetings with Pope Francis, and other members of the government have met him, too,” Ukraine’s President Zelensky said in an interview. “I am most grateful to him for these encounters. He is helping us!”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis prays for peace at Fátima: Mary ‘always hastens to us whenever there is trouble.’
Though he did not mention Ukraine specifically, Pope Francis used his visit today to the Fátima shrine in Portugal to pray for peace.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Ukraine officially moves Christmas to Dec. 25 ‘to discard the Russian legacy’ of Jan. 7 celebration
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed into law a bill moving the official observance of Christmas Day to Dec. 25 from Jan. 7, when Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church mark the holiday.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Ukraine ambassador to the Vatican: Russia is a ‘terrorist’ state
Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See said the onslaught of attacks on Odesa and several surrounding cities shows that Russia’s actions are no different than the actions of a terrorist organization.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis’ peace envoy was a ‘first step’ in repatriating displaced Ukrainian children
The top priority for Pope Francis’ peace envoy in his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden was the repatriation of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia, the papal nuncio to the United States said.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace envoy is in Washington to discuss children kidnapped by Russia
Pope Francis’ peace envoy was traveling to Washington on Monday as part of the Holy See’s peace initiatives for Ukraine, hoping to support humanitarian operations especially concerning children, the Vatican said Monday.
Posted inFaith, Interviews
Interview: Cardinal Cupich spent 2 weeks in Ukraine and Poland. He left both sad and hopeful.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, recently concluded a two-week visit to Poland and war-torn Ukraine, he shares his experience with America’s Vatican correspondent, Gerry O’Connell.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Days after Wagner coup attempt, Pope Francis sends cardinal for peace talks
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will be in Moscow June 28-29 “as the envoy of Pope Francis,” the Vatican announced today, on the second stage of a mission to explore ways to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Podcast: What we know about Pope Francis’ hospitalization and hernia surgery
On “Inside the Vatican” this week, hosts Gerard O’Connell and Colleen Dulle discuss the pope’s recent hospitalization to undergo surgery for a hernia causing intestinal blockage.