Vatican News

Lay members meet to contribute to Regnum Christi's transformation

June 10, 2013

ROME - Members of Regnum Christi, the lay movement associated with the Legionaries of Christ, said they don't feel they are on a salvage mission, but rather are part of a transformation.

Religious freedom gets more lip service than guarantees, Pope says

June 10, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Religious freedom is talked about more than it is protected, Pope Francis said.

Pope cuts 'boring' speech to answer students' questions

June 7, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis ditched a 1,250-word prepared speech to students saying it would be "a tad boring" to read out loud and opted instead to just quickly hit the high points and spend the rest of the time answering people's questions.

Pope Francis calls clerical careerism a 'leprocy'

June 7, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Using especially strong language on one of his favorite themes, Pope Francis decried a plague of careerism among priests and urged them to renounce their personal ambitions for service to the church -- warning that failure to do so would make them look "ridiculous."

Vatican organizing worldwide, simultaneous eucharistic adoration June 2

May 29, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Vatican officials are making strategic phone calls to some of the world's most far-flung dioceses, trying to verify that in each of the world's inhabited time zones there will be an organized hour of eucharistic adoration coinciding with 5-6 p.m. Rome time June 2.

At Pentecost vigil, Pope shares personal stories of his faith

May 21, 2013

VATICAN CITY - With humor and passion, Pope Francis shared highlights of his personal faith journey and explained some key points of his teaching to an enthusiastic crowd of representatives from Catholic lay movements.

Rethinking the parish concept

May 19, 2013

The ideals of parish life aren’t hard to identify. Priests everywhere remind people in front of them on Sunday they are the Church — a community bound together by sacrament and the word of God. It isn’t just the building that is named after a saint but every family and each individual whenever they come together to worship and reach out for the kingdom of God.

Church should be less serious, more loving, says Pope

May 16, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church needs to revive its loving and tender side, which gets lost when the Church becomes too serious, Pope Francis said.

Archbishop says people returning to confession because of Pope

May 15, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The head of the Vatican office promoting new evangelization said that while he does not like the terms "Francis effect" or "Francis bump," it is true that "Pope Francis has touched the hearts and minds of many people."

Pope tells sisters the Church needs them, they need the Church

May 8, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis told 800 superiors of women's orders from around the world that the Catholic Church needs religious women and that religious women need to be in harmony with the faith and teachings of the Church.