Vatican News

Pope Francis in Thailand: Friendship with Jesus lights your path

Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 22, 2019 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis told young people in Thailand Friday that the secret to happiness is to be deeply rooted in faith in Jesus Christ.

“The secret to a happy heart is the security we find when we are anchored, rooted in Jesus: in his life, in his words, in his death and resurrection,” Pope Francis said Nov. 22 in his homily at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Bangkok.

Religious freedom a 'moral imperative,' pope tells leaders of major religions in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 22, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- In a meeting with leaders of major religions in Thailand Friday, Pope Francis stressed the importance of upholding human dignity and religious freedom.

“For our part, we are asked to embrace the moral imperative of upholding human dignity and respecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom,” he said Nov. 22 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Vatican officials: Swiss bank suspected of money laundering led to Pell conflict

Vatican City, Nov 21, 2019 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- The Holy See’s relationship with a disreputable Swiss bank triggered an internal dispute between the Secretariat of State and Vatican financial authorities. At the center of the conflict was a multimillion-dollar line of credit used to fund a controversial investment in London property speculation.

Pope calls Catholics in Thailand to follow in footsteps of early missionaries

Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 21, 2019 / 05:30 am (CNA).- Thailand’s first Christian missionaries set out feeling the absence of the Thai people from their lives and wanted to share everything they knew about God’s love, Pope Francis told the country’s Catholics during Mass on Thursday.

The missionaries ended up learning more fully the plan of God, and found the Thai people to be their unknown family, he reflected.

Merciful care should affirm the dignity of the sick, pope tells Catholic hospital in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 21, 2019 / 02:30 am (CNA).- The dignity of the human person can be recognized and affirmed through loving medical care to the sick and injured, Pope Francis told the staff of St. Louis Catholic Hospital in Bangkok Thursday.

“The healing process should rightly be seen as a powerful anointing capable of restoring human dignity in every situation, a gaze that grants dignity and provides support,” the pope said Nov. 21.

In a meeting with Thailand's Supreme Buddhist Patriarch, Pope Francis encourages peace

Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 20, 2019 / 09:42 pm (CNA).- Catholics and Buddhists share should work together to advance the cause of mercy in the world, Pope Francis said Thursday during a historic meeting with the Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Thailand.

“Thanks to scholarly exchanges, which lead to greater mutual understanding, as well as the exercise of contemplation, mercy and discernment – common to both our traditions – we can grow and live together as good ‘neighbors,’” the pope said Nov. 21.

Prosecutor calls for arrest of Vatican bishop charged with abusing Argentine seminarians

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2019 / 02:05 pm (CNA).- A criminal prosecutor in Argentina has requested the arrest of Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who is accused of sexually abusing two seminarians. Zanchetta is suspended from a position at the Vatican’s central bank, where he was appointed an “assessor” by Pope Francis in 2017.

Zanchetta is accused of sexually abusing two seminarians, and was criminally charged in June. He could face three to 10 years in prison if he is convicted.

Cardinal Parolin says he arranged controversial hospital loan, Papal Foundation grant

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2019 / 10:26 am (CNA).- The Vatican Secretary of State told CNA this week that he is responsible for arranging a controversial loan for the purchase of a bankrupt Italian hospital, and that he arranged with Cardinal Donald Wuerl a grant from the U.S.-based Papal Foundation to cover the loan when it could not be repaid.

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