Vatican News

Pope calls for concrete acts of mercy this Lent

Vatican City, Jan 26, 2016 / 04:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his 2016 Lenten message, Pope Francis called the faithful to place special emphasis on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy this Lent, taking into account the current Jubilee Year of Mercy.

“God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn,” the Pope wrote in the short document, released Tuesday by the Vatican.

Pope will go to Sweden for Reformation anniversary, Vatican announces

Vatican City, Jan 25, 2016 / 05:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will take part in an ecumenical ceremony in Lund, Sweden, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the Vatican announced Monday.

Evangelize the poor: that is your mission, Pope says

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2016 / 06:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis centered his Angelus address this Sunday on what it means to evangelize the poor, and how this is the mission of the Church.

“Evangelize the poor: this is the mission of Jesus; this is also the mission of the Church, and of all the baptized in the Church,” the Pope said Jan. 24 to the crowds in Saint Peter's Square. “To be a Christian and to be a missionary is the same thing.”

This sword-wielding Samurai just moved closer to sainthood!

Vatican City, Jan 23, 2016 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The martyrdom of a 16th-century Samurai who died for his Catholic faith was approved this week by Pope Francis, making the Japanese warrior one among nine other causes that advanced toward sainthood.

In speech to Rota, Pope Fancis shows annulment conditions aren't loosening

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2016 / 11:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his annual speech to the Holy See's main court on Friday, Pope Francis affirmed the indissolubility of marriage and clarified that poorly developed “personal faith” is not itself a grounds for finding that a marriage is null.

What's the first step to good communication? Listening, Pope says

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2016 / 05:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For Pope Francis, the ability to listen is the first requirement for good communication, which is something he said should never exclude, but must provide an encounter rooted in mercy and welcome.

“We must first listen. Communicating means sharing, and sharing demands listening and acceptance,” the Pope has said, adding that to listen “is much more than simply hearing.”

Pope Francis celebrates Saint Agnes with blessing of lambs

Vatican City, Jan 21, 2016 / 10:42 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis observed the feast of St. Agnes on Thursday with the time-honored custom of the blessing of lambs, whose wool will be used to make palliums, a vestment worn by metropolitan archbishops which signify their unity with the Church of Rome.

Women may now have their feet washed at Holy Thursday Mass, Pope says

Vatican City, Jan 21, 2016 / 10:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has changed the rules for the Church’s traditional foot-washing ceremony on Holy Thursday, issuing a decree allowing women to participate in what has until now been a ritual officially open only to men.

Technology is good but it shouldn't replace human beings, Pope says

Vatican City, Jan 20, 2016 / 04:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While advancements in technology are mostly positive, they can also negatively affect the poor and the environment and risk letting “soulless machines” take the place of people, Pope Francis warned.

Pope Francis: for Christians, baptism is stronger than differences

Vatican City, Jan 20, 2016 / 05:32 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- In his general audience during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis focused on the common baptism Christians share, saying the strength of this bond is stronger than existing divisions.

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