Image: www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk On Tuesday of this week, August 2nd, Pope Francis arrived in Portugal for the first World Youth Day (WYD) since the Covid -19 Pandemic. He was accompanied by journalists on the papal flight, and he joked with them that he will return to Rome on Sunday “more youthful”. WYD brings together young people… Read More
Tag: Pope Francis
Happy Anniversary Pope Francis!
Image:www.americamagazine.org On Monday of this week, Pope Francis marked 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church by celebrating Mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence where he has lived since his election. He never took possession of the papal apartments in the Apostolic palace used by his predecessors,… Read More
Visit to a Troubled Land – Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Visit to a Troubled Land On the afternoon of Tuesday 31 January, Pope Francis arrived in Kinshasa for the start of a 4-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) and South Sudan. Catholics make up around half the population of each country. The Church also owns and runs an extensive network of hospitals,… Read More
No to Nuclear Weapons
Image: www.skynews.com The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted by a United Nations diplomatic conference on 7 July 2017. It is the first applicable multilateral agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons. The first meeting of States Parties to TPNW took place in Austria last week. The aim was to set the tone… Read More
Pope Francis Formalises Recognition of Roles
Since Francis, succeeded to the Chair of Peter on 13 March 2013 there has been a perception in many quarters that he is or would be a somewhat ‘liberal’ pontiff. This may have come about because of the undoubted ‘conservatism’ of his immediate predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. However, it… Read More
An East and West Divide: Religion
Last week Pope Francis completed a six-day Apostolic Journey to Cyprus and Greece. The trip was a significant one for Greeks, who saw his visit as a message for Christian unity with a Catholic minority and an Orthodox majority. The pope met with a delegation from the Greek Orthodox Church, in which he recalled… Read More
Popes in Peril – Times of crisis
It came as an unpleasant shock this week when news emerged from Rome that a threatening letter containing three bullets addressed to Pope Francis had been seized by Italian police. The discovery was made in a postal facility in the small town of Peschiera Borromeo on the outskirts of Milan. The suspicious package, believed to… Read More
Celebrating Grandparents
Last Sunday, July 25th, marked the first observation of the Church’s annual Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. On January 31, 2021, Pope Francis made the announcement of this new event to be celebrated every year on the fourth Sunday in July. In the Vatican, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, standing… Read More
In the World’s Spotlight: Pope Francis
On New Year’s Eve, 2019 Pope Francis made headlines news when he slapped the hand of a woman as he greeted pilgrims at the Vatican. Francis’ patience snapped when the woman suddenly snatched at his hand and yanked him towards her as he reached out to greet a child during a visit to the… Read More
The Gentle Guardian of the Church: St Joseph
Last year, on December 8th, Pope Francis decreed a special year dedicated to St Joseph for the global Catholic Church. It marks the 150th anniversary of St Joseph being declared patron of the universal Church in 1870. The man who was given the task of caring for and watching over Mary and Jesus, would… Read More
In Praise of Older People: First World Day
Earlier this week, It was announced that the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will be celebrated on Sunday 25th July. The press release came from the Vatican’s Dicastery (a department of the Roman Curia) for the Laity, Family, and Life. The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this inaugural commemoration is, “I… Read More
The Pope’s Historic Visit to Iraq
When Pope Francis returned to the Vatican last Monday after his four-day trip to Iraq he was fulfilling a dream of his predecessor, Pope St John Paul II who had hoped to travel to Iraq at the end of 1999. This trip never took place because Saddam Hussein decided to postpone it after… Read More
The Pope to be who saved a young girl’s life
On Thursday of this week, we celebrated the feast day of St Pope John Paul II. This man was the first Polish pope and his election brought great joy to his countrymen and women. When future historians look back on the most influential personalities of the twentieth century his name will unquestionably loom large in… Read More
John Hume – Blessed be the Peacemakers
The main topic in the news this week and the only one to topple Covid-19, albeit temporarily, was the death of John Hume, the man without whom peace would never been attained in Northern Ireland. Those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s here in the south were used to the daily… Read More
Brotherly Love – Pope Benedict’s last trip
The news from the Vatican this week was a reminder that we are living in a unique period of history because we have a reigning pope Francis, and a retired pope Benedict both alive at the same time. Benedict was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years and still lives within the walls of… Read More
Going too far?- Adapting during Covid19
One day last week I noticed that the doors of my parish church were open so I decided to go in and see what was happening. I discovered that a small section of the church was in use for people to make a visit, just to light a candle and say a prayer. There was… Read More