Vatican News

Pope Francis asks families to put down their phones on Holy Family feast

Vatican City, Dec 29, 2019 / 05:30 am (CNA).- On feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged families to get off their cell phones and talk to one another.

“In your family, do you know how to communicate with each other, or are you like those kids at the table -- each one has their own cell phone, chatting? In that table there is a silence as if they were at Mass, but they don't communicate with each other,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Dec. 29.

Pope prays for Philippines, struck by deadly Christmas Day typhoon

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2019 / 06:20 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday prayed for the people of the Philippines, who were hit Christmas Day by a typhoon which has killed more than a dozen people and caused extensive damage.

“I join in the pain that hit the dear population of the Philippines because of the typhoon Phanfone,” the pope said Dec. 26, at the end of his Angelus address.

St. Stephen's martyrdom shows 'true meaning of Christmas,' Pope Francis says

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2019 / 05:02 am (CNA).- The death of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, teaches Catholics to renew their commitment to charity and self-gift, part of the meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said Thursday.

In his address before the Angelus on the feast of St. Stephen Dec. 26, the pope noted that “in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas, this memory of the first Christian killed for the faith may appear out of place.”

Sinner or saint – God loves you, Pope Francis says on Christmas Eve

Vatican City, Dec 24, 2019 / 02:21 pm (CNA).- A person’s weakness and sin does not change Christ’s love for them, and Catholics should strive to treat others the same way, serving anyone and not only those they consider worthy, Pope Francis said on Christmas Eve.

“God does not love you because you think and act the right way. He loves you, plain and simple. His love is unconditional; it does not depend on you,” the pope said Dec. 24 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis: This Christmas, imitate St. Joseph's trust in God

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2019 / 04:57 am (CNA).- In a difficult situation, St. Joseph put his whole trust in God and was obedient, an example for all Catholics to imitate, Pope Francis said during the Angelus Sunday.

St. Joseph “does not preach, does not speak, but tries to do the will of God; and he does it in the style of the Gospel and of the Beatitudes,” he said Dec. 22.

Pope Francis accepts resignation of dean of cardinals, sets 5-year term limit

Vatican City, Dec 21, 2019 / 07:54 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Saturday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Angelo Sodano as dean of the College of Cardinals and declared that the position will now have a five-year term limit with the possibility of renewal.

Previously, cardinal dean, considered “first among equals,” was a life position.

Pope Francis created the five-year limit in an apostolic letter issued motu proprio Dec. 21, the same day he accepted Sodano’s resignation.

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