Articles for Vatican

A Holy Year is about to start in Rome. Here’s what you need to know
11 hours, 21 minutes ago

A Holy Year is about to start in Rome. Here’s what you need to know

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Tuesday formally inaugurates the 2025 Holy Year, reviving an ancient church tradition encouraging the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome, amid new security fears following a Christmas market attack in Germany. At the start of Christmas Eve Mass, Francis will push open the Holy Door on St. Peter’s Basilica, which will stay open throughout …

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Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire on all fronts in his prayer ahead of Christmas
Trending News
1 day, 1 hour ago

Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire on all fronts in his prayer ahead of Christmas

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis called for a ceasefire on all war fronts in his Sunday Angelus prayer ahead of Christmas, condemning the “cruelty” of bombing schools and hospitals in Ukraine and Gaza. “Let the weapons fall silent and let the Christmas carols ring out!” Francis said, delivering his Sunday blessing from indoors due to a cold and as a …

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Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass
Top News
1 day, 5 hours ago

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass

Associated Press  

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza’s small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. One of the latest Israeli strikes hit a school housing displaced people in Gaza City and killed at least eight, including three children, according …

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Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass
Trending News
1 day, 14 hours ago

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass

LA Times  

Palestinians pray Sunday over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home in Deir al Balah. Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza’s small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. One of the latest Israeli strikes hit a school …

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Vatican advances beatification process for Belgian king who abdicated rather than approve abortion
1 day, 23 hours ago

Vatican advances beatification process for Belgian king who abdicated rather than approve abortion

Associated Press  

ROME — The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion. Francis surprised and even enraged some Belgians when, during his September visit to Brussels, he prayed at Baudouin’s tomb, denounced Belgium’s abortion laws as “homicidal” and …

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Pope has a cold and will skip outdoor Sunday prayer ahead of a busy week
Trending News
2 days, 4 hours ago

Pope has a cold and will skip outdoor Sunday prayer ahead of a busy week

Associated Press  

ROME — Pope Francis is suffering from a cold and will deliver his Sunday blessing from indoors, the Vatican said, announcing the precautions ahead of a busy Christmas period and launch of the Holy Year that will sorely test Francis’ stamina and health. The Vatican cited the cold temperatures outside and Francis’ strenuous week ahead, after a wheezing and congested-sounding …

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"Gossip is an evil": Pope Francis admonishes Vatican staff for workplace toxicity
2 days, 14 hours ago

"Gossip is an evil": Pope Francis admonishes Vatican staff for workplace toxicity

Salon  

If the 2024 film “Conclave” dramatized the Vatican's inner workings with intrigue, Pope Francis delivered something of a real-life sequel on Saturday, urging Vatican bureaucrats to cut the backstabbing and embrace humility during his annual Christmas address. “Gossip is an evil that destroys social life, sickens people’s hearts and leads to nothing,” the 88-year-old pontiff admonished. “The people say it …

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Pope warns Vatican staff against gossip: 'Destroys social life, sickens heart'
2 days, 14 hours ago

Pope warns Vatican staff against gossip: 'Destroys social life, sickens heart'

India Today  

Pope Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop speaking ill of one another, as he once again used his annual Christmas greetings to admonish the backstabbing and gossiping among his closest collaborators. "A church community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk in the life of humility, renouncing evil thinking and speaking ill …

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For some, the pope’s big Holy Year only aggravates housing crisis as overtourism pushes out Romans
3 days, 11 hours ago

For some, the pope’s big Holy Year only aggravates housing crisis as overtourism pushes out Romans

Associated Press  

When Pope Francis left the Vatican earlier this month for his traditional Christmastime outing downtown, he acknowledged what many Romans have been complaining about for months: That his big plans for a Holy Year had turned their city into a giant construction pit, with traffic-clogging roadworks tearing up major thoroughfares, scaffolding covering prized monuments and short-term rentals gobbling up apartment …

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White House says Biden will visit Pope Francis, Meloni in final international trip of his presidency
3 days, 20 hours ago

White House says Biden will visit Pope Francis, Meloni in final international trip of his presidency

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to Italy next month to meet with Pope Francis and top Italian officials for what is expected to be the final international trip of his presidency. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden will also meet with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella during the Jan. 9-12 …

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Pope Francis urges priests to guard against groups that stoke divisions
Trending News
1 week, 1 day ago

Pope Francis urges priests to guard against groups that stoke divisions

CNN  

CNN — Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Sunday to guard against spiritual groups that stoke political divisions, speaking during a one-day visit to Corsica, the first by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island. At a conference on religion across the Mediterranean, the pontiff warned against varieties of spirituality that “seek self-aggrandizement by fueling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and exclusivist …

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Vatican’s Palestinian Nativity scene raises eyebrows – and then disappears
Trending News
1 week, 3 days ago

Vatican’s Palestinian Nativity scene raises eyebrows – and then disappears

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pope Francis presided over his …

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Pope calls for debt reduction for poorer countries to mark the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee Year
1 week, 4 days ago

Pope calls for debt reduction for poorer countries to mark the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee Year

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday called on wealthy countries and institutions to substantially reduce if not outright cancel debt as a matter of justice on the occasion of the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee Year. In a message for world peace, Francis referred to St. John Paul II’s admonition in Jubilee Year 2000 that debt “threatens the future of many …

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Vatican’s keffiyeh Nativity scene raises eyebrows and then disappears — at least until Christmas Eve
1 week, 4 days ago

Vatican’s keffiyeh Nativity scene raises eyebrows and then disappears — at least until Christmas Eve

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis presided over his weekly general audience Wednesday alongside a Palestinian-crafted Nativity scene that was missing its eyebrow-raising signature element: a keffiyeh-draped manger holding the infant Jesus. The wooden Nativity scene in the Vatican’s main audience hall had generated headlines when it was unveiled Dec. 7 because of the presence of the keffiyeh, the black-and-white checkered …

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Renovations have left Rome in chaos. Now 35 million visitors are about to descend
54 years, 11 months ago

Renovations have left Rome in chaos. Now 35 million visitors are about to descend

CNN  

For travel tips, recipes and more insight on Italian culture, sign up for CNN’s Unlocking Italy newsletter. During celebrations, the “holy doors” of Rome’s major basilica churches, normally cemented shut, are opened. Remo Casilli/Reuters The forthcoming jubilee will begin on Christmas Eve — December 24 — when Pope Francis opens the holy door in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican …

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Catholic news: The pope is making power moves.
54 years, 11 months ago

Catholic news: The pope is making power moves.

Slate  

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. In a ceremony on Saturday, Francis formally welcomed 21 new cardinals into the church’s top leadership rank. A couple of the new cardinals have even refused the cardinals’ signature red vestments—choosing, in Francis’ model, to wear modest clothes as …

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Pope Francis Unveils Christmas Nativity With Baby Jesus Atop A Keffiyeh
2 weeks ago

Pope Francis Unveils Christmas Nativity With Baby Jesus Atop A Keffiyeh

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Pope Francis made a plea for peace while unveiling a nativity featuring baby Jesus nestled in a keffiyeh in Vatican City on Saturday. The pontiff declared “Enough wars, enough violence!” while receiving a delegation of representatives from the Palestinian groups that organized the project by Bethlehem-based artists Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi, Vatican News reported. Part …

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Who is George Jacob Koovakad? Pope Francis elevates Indian priest as cardinal, PM Modi ‘proud’
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Who is George Jacob Koovakad? Pope Francis elevates Indian priest as cardinal, PM Modi ‘proud’

Live Mint  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that Indian priest George Jacob Koovakad's elevation as a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis is a matter of great joy and pride for India. Delighted at His Eminence George Jacob Koovakad being created a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church by His Holiness Pope Francis," Modi said …

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Modi Hails Kerala's Archbishop Koovakad's Elevation to Cardinal
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Modi Hails Kerala's Archbishop Koovakad's Elevation to Cardinal

Deccan Chronicle  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed immense pride as Archbishop George Jacob Koovakad from Kerala was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Francis. The prestigious appointment makes Archbishop Koovakad one of the highest-ranking officials in the Catholic Church, representing India on the global stage. Delighted at His Eminence George Jacob Koovakad being created a Cardinal of the Holy Roman …

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Meet George Koovakad, the Indian Cardinal who organises the Pope's world tours
Trending News
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Meet George Koovakad, the Indian Cardinal who organises the Pope's world tours

India Today  

In a historic moment for the Catholic Church in India, George Jacob Koovakad, a priest from Kerala, ascended to the rank of cardinal. Pope Francis appoints Indian Cardinal Jacob Koovakad during an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of new cardinals, at St Peter's Basilica. “Delighted at His Eminence George Jacob Koovakad being created a Cardinal of the Holy Roman …

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Indian Priest George Koovakad Elevated To Cardinal By Pope Francis, PM Modi Hails Historic Vatican Ceremony
Trending News
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Indian Priest George Koovakad Elevated To Cardinal By Pope Francis, PM Modi Hails Historic Vatican Ceremony

ABP News  

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7 : In a grand consistory held in the Vatican on Saturday, 51-year-old Indian priest George Jacob Koovakad was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Francis. "It is a matter of immense pride for India that Archbishop George Koovakad will be created as a Cardinal by His Holiness Pope Francis," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on …

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Pope Francis presides over ceremony for new cardinals with wide bruise on his chin
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Pope Francis presides over ceremony for new cardinals with wide bruise on his chin

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis was seen with a significant bruise on his chin Saturday, but presided over a ceremony to install new cardinals without apparent problems. A Vatican spokesman said later Saturday that the bruise was caused by a contusion on Friday morning, when Francis hit a night stand with his chin. Domenico Battaglia, Archbishop of Naples, Italy, right, …

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Pope Francis's visit to India likely after Jubilee year 2025, says Union Minister George Kurian
Top News
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Pope Francis's visit to India likely after Jubilee year 2025, says Union Minister George Kurian

The Hindu  

Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs George Kurian on Saturday said the much-awaited visit of Pope Francis to India is likely to happen after 2025, which has been announced as the "Jubilee Year" by the Catholic Church. So, the Vatican says that the Pope will be engaged during the next year,” said Mr. Kurian, adding “So, as per the …

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Pope Francis likely to visit India post-2025 Jubilee Year celebrations, says Union minister
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Pope Francis likely to visit India post-2025 Jubilee Year celebrations, says Union minister

Hindustan Times  

Union minister George Kurian said on Saturday that Pope Francis' visit to India is likely to take place after 2025, designated as the "Jubilee Year" by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis Kurian mentioned that India already extended an official invitation to the Pope, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally inviting him. Pope's visit to India George Jacob Koovakad, 51, from …

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