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February 13, 2019

Pope advances sainthood causes of Blessed Newman, Cardinal Mindszenty

Cardinal Henry Newman in May 1890.
VATICAN – Pope Francis has signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman, the English cardinal, clearing the way for his canonization.
Published in Faith
February 13, 2019

Greed, thirst for profit threatens humanity, Vatican official says

An woman from the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe looks at dead fish near the Paraopeba River after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed near Sao Joaquim de Bicas, Brazil, Jan. 28, 2019.
ROME – Left unchecked, unbridled greed and a thirst for profit leads down a slippery slope that endangers the earth and all who live on it, especially indigenous populations, a Vatican official said.
Published in International
February 12, 2019

Juan Guaido delegation says Vatican supports new elections in Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, alongside his wife, Fabiana Rosales, speaks to the media after attending Mass in Caracas Feb. 10, 2019. Although it has publicly taken a neutral stance in the current political crisis in Venezuela, the Vatican has expressed its support for new elections in the country within the year, said a member of a delegation representing Guaido.
ROME – Although it has publicly taken a neutral stance in the current political crisis in Venezuela, the Vatican has expressed its support for new elections in the country within the year, said a member of a delegation representing opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Published in International
February 8, 2019

Maduro's call for Vatican mediation rejected by Venezuelan cardinal

Nicolas Maduro is seen in La Guaira, Venezuela, Sept. 8. Juan Guaido declared himself the legitimate Venezuelan president during a news conference in Caracas Jan. 25, 2019.
MERIDA, Venezuela – The Archbishop of Merida has ruled out Vatican mediation of the Venezuelan crisis after president Nicolas Maduro made public a letter to Pope Francis requesting intervention.
Published in International
February 8, 2019

Simple friendship, discipleship are key to missionary work, Pope Francis says

Pope Francis greets a woman during an audience with members of the Missionaries of Africa and the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa at the Vatican Feb. 8, 2019.
VATICAN – Proclaiming the Gospel is not the same thing as proselytism and often means simply being a neighbor and friend to someone while living an authentically Christian life, Pope Francis said.
Published in Faith
February 8, 2019

Vatican commemorates 90th anniversary of peace pact between Italy, Holy See

People stand in the rain as Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square Nov. 4, 2018, at the Vatican.
VATICAN – The historic signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy 90 years ago is an important example of cooperation and peace that is needed in today's world, a Vatican official said.
Published in Vatican
February 6, 2019

Jesuit Father Arrupe's sainthood cause officially opens

St. Teresa of Kolkata is pictured in 1982 with Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe in Rome. The sainthood cause for Father Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran Feb. 5, 2019, the 28th anniversary of his death. He was superior general of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983.
ROME – The sainthood cause of Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran Feb. 5, the 28th anniversary of Father Arrupe's death.
Published in Faith
January 31, 2019

WikiLeaks releases dossier on Knights of Malta controversy

U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a canon lawyer and former grand master of the Knights of Malta, is pictured in a Feb 20, 2015, photo. Internal documents relating to the public crisis that led to his resignation of the grand master of the Knights of Malta in 2017 were released by WikiLeaks.
VATICAN – Internal documents relating to the public crisis that led to the resignation of the grand master of the Knights of Malta in 2017 were released by WikiLeaks.
Published in International
January 29, 2019

Canada’s abuse guidelines earn praise

Only about half of the national bishops' conferences in the world have adopted Vatican-approved guidelines for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and promoting child protection, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said.

The priest hand-picked by Pope Francis to chair the Feb. 21-24 summit on clerical sexual abuse at the Vatican has thrust the Canadian model for protecting minors into the spotlight as Church leaders from around the world prepare for the unprecedented meeting.

Published in Canada
January 29, 2019

Vatican doctrinal official steps down over sexual advances to nun

Theologian Fr. Herman Geissler, 53, member of a community called The Spiritual Family The Work, submitted his resignation Jan. 28 to the prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, who then granted his request.
VATICAN – An Austrian priest under canonical investigation stepped down as an official at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in an effort "to limit the damage already done to the congregation and to his community," the doctrinal office said.
Published in International
January 28, 2019

Papal academy examining the future of ‘robo-ethics’

“Pepper,” a humanoid robot designed to welcome and take care of visitors and patients, holds the hand of a newborn baby next to his mother at AZ Damiaan hospital in Ostend, Belgium. The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life has added robotics to its list of specialized areas of study.

VATICAN – Even though today’s modern tools and technologies are hardly human, the Pontifical Academy for Life is zeroing in on the world of robots and machines powered by artificial intelligence.

Published in International
January 28, 2019

Real Catholic media don't look for heretics everywhere, Vatican official says

Reporters follow Pope Francis into the plane as he board at Tocumen International Airport after attending World Youth Day in Panama City Jan. 27, 2019.
VATICAN – The rise of media that call themselves Catholic but seem to exist only to judge others is less about criticizing Pope Francis and more about the misguided notion that to affirm one's own orthodoxy, one must find someone to label a heretic, said a Vatican communications official.
Published in International
January 28, 2019

Vatican affirms support of universal health care

Sarah Plant comforts her grandmother, Barbara Lant, who awaits treatment at Milton Keynes University Hospital in England June 26, 2018. "If we had to pay for health care, we wouldn't have been able to afford it. I don't really want to think about what it would have been like," said Plant.
GENEVA – The Vatican supports efforts to build stronger and sustainable essential health care services on the way toward achieving universal health coverage, a Vatican official said.
Published in International
January 25, 2019

World's Christians are making progress in unity, Vatican official says

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is pictured in a 2017 photo. Despite some new tensions and continuing struggles to overcome centuries of division, "practically the whole of Christianity is in a process of advancing beyond the controversies and competition of the past, toward greater understanding, trust and solidarity," said Bishop Farrell.
VATICAN – Despite some new tensions, "practically the whole of Christianity is in a process of advancing beyond the controversies and competition of the past, toward greater understanding, trust and solidarity," said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Published in International
January 24, 2019

Vatican summit to create task force in every continent for protection of minors

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a professor of psychology and president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, is pictured in a 2015 photo.
VATICAN – Since the work of child protection must continue after the February meeting at the Vatican on safeguarding, one organizer said they plan on creating a "task force" with teams on every continent.
Published in International
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