Vatican News

Pope Francis: A baby's smile is a sign of God’s love

Vatican City, Dec 21, 2019 / 05:44 am (CNA).- The very first way the Child Jesus revealed the love and goodness of the Father was in smiling at his parents, just “like every newborn baby in this world,” Pope Francis said Saturday.

“When we look at a newborn baby, we are led to smile at it, and if a smile blossoms on its small face, then we experience a simple, unsophisticated emotion,” the pope said Dec. 21.

Church reform takes personal conversion, Pope Francis tells Roman Curia

Vatican City, Dec 21, 2019 / 05:02 am (CNA).- To carry out the continuing reform of the Church requires a willingness to change and a commitment to personal conversion, Pope Francis said Saturday, during his annual Christmas greeting to the bishops and cardinals of the Roman Curia.

Francis quoted St. John Henry Newman, who said, “here on earth to live is to change, and perfection is the result of many transformations.”

What a decade! A look at the biggest Catholic stories of the 2010s

Vatican City, Dec 21, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- When Church historians look back on the last ten years, they’ll have several historic and important moments to study. And Catholics who’ve lived through the last decade may feel that changes, often one right after another, were both dizzying and exciting.

As a new decade begins on January 1, 2020, CNA offers a look back at some of the most important stories for the Church in the 2010s:

2013

Pope Francis surprises high school students before Christmas break

Rome, Italy, Dec 20, 2019 / 07:42 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Friday made a surprise visit to a high school in Rome, where he spoke to about 800 students and answered questions about war, peace, and the coexistence of different cultures and religions.

The Pilo Albertelli State High School is close to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. The pope arrived there by car in the morning Dec. 20.

Pope Francis installs cross in Vatican for migrants who died in Mediterranean

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2019 / 12:51 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday hung a cross encircled by a life jacket inside a Vatican building in memory of migrants and refugees who have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea.

He also welcomed Dec. 19 a group of asylum seekers brought to Italy by the head of the papal charities office, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Does 'The Two Popes' fairly represent Francis and Benedict? Critics say ‘no’ 

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2019 / 11:36 am (CNA).- A new Netflix production, “The Two Popes” centers on several imagined meetings between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in the period between the 2005 conclave which elected Benedict and the 2013 conclave which elected Pope Francis.

Benedict XVI is played by Anthony Hopkins, and Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, is played by Jonathan Pryce.

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