Vatican News

Next ordinary synod of bishops to be held in 2022

Vatican City, Feb 15, 2020 / 11:03 am (CNA).- The next ordinary assembly of the synod of bishops is to be held in the fall of 2022, according to a press release from the Vatican on Saturday.

The theme has not yet been decided, but will be up to Pope Francis, who was presented with three possible options by the council of the general secretariat of the synod in a meeting last week.

Pope Francis speaks about financial reforms to Vatican tribunal

Vatican City, Feb 15, 2020 / 05:24 am (CNA).- As the Holy See awaits the results of a scheduled financial inspection, Pope Francis spoke about ongoing financial reform and investigations at the opening of the judicial year of the Vatican City State’s court, which he attended for the first time.

He said Feb. 15 the Holy See is trying to conform to international law and has put in place processes to combat “illegality in the international finance sector.”

Pope Francis discusses 'Querida Amazonia' with US bishops in Rome

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2020 / 02:17 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis this week discussed his new post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Querida Amazonia, with United States bishops in Rome for their ad limina visits to the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.

In a two and half hour-long Feb. 10 meeting with the bishops of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, Francis spoke about his document following October’s Amazon synod, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver told CNA.

Analysis: 'Querida Amazonia' and the German synod

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Whatever Pope Francis wrote in this week’s apostolic exhortation on the Amazon, the impact of his text was always expected to reach far beyond the region it addressed.

Querida Amazonia, published Wednesday, offered a serious treatment of the situation facing the Church in parts of South America. It addressed the environment, social and cultural issues, and the importance of evangelization and inculturation among indigenous peoples.

Pope Francis to laity: 'It is time for you' to share the Gospel

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2020 / 09:47 am (CNA).- Laypeople have a mandate to spread the Gospel in their concrete circumstances through the witness of their lives, Pope Francis said in a message sent Friday to Catholics attending a congress on laity in Spain.

“The living Word of God needs to be preached with passion and joy through Christian witness, to be able to tear down even the highest walls that isolate and exclude,” the pope wrote in the message, delivered Feb. 14.

Pope Francis on St John Paul II: 'I learned from him'

Vatican City, Feb 13, 2020 / 10:33 am (CNA).- In a newly published book, Pope Francis answers questions about himself and St. John Paul II, saying he learned the importance of joy and mercy from his predecessor, and they are in “total harmony” on the subject of priestly ministry.

“I think that joy is the most important characteristic of the encounter with the risen Jesus,” Pope Francis said, noting the joy and mercy of John Paul II’s pontificate, “I learned from him.”

Vatican officials: 'Querida Amazonia' is magisterium, Amazon synod's final doc is not

Vatican City, Feb 12, 2020 / 07:56 am (CNA).- Pope Francis' post-synodal exhortation on the Amazon is part of the Church's ordinary magisterium -- that is officially a kind of Church teaching -- while the final document of the Vatican’s 2019 Amazon synod is not, Cardinal Michael Czerny, special secretary of the Amazon synod, said Feb. 12.

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