Vatican News

Pope Francis backs the new synod process in an unanticipated speech

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2015 / 04:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an unexpected speech at the synod on Tuesday, Pope Francis has stated that this gathering is in continuity with 2014 synod, which he said never called into question the Church's teaching on marriage.

He also emphasized that the official documents of the 2014 synod are his two speeches, and its final report.

For UK archbishop, the plight of migrant families strikes a chord

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2015 / 02:38 pm (CNA).- Despite a media focus on divorce and homosexuality, the synod discussions regarding family issues cannot ignore the weighty impact of the current migration crisis, said U.K. Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

“We should have the integrity of the family foremost in our minds,” the cardinal told CNA, speaking about the many families who have become separated by the migrant crisis.

He cited as an example the trials of Middle Eastern migrants who have family members in England.

Full text of Cardinal Erdo's introductory report for the Synod on the Family

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2015 / 10:26 am (CNA).- On Oct. 5, the opening day of the 2015 Synod on the Family, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest -- who is the synod's relator general -- gave an introductory speech to the synod fathers. Drawing from the working document for the synod as well as recent magisterial documents, Cardinal Erdo surveyed the work the assembly is called to do. He examined current challenges to the family and marriage, the vocation of the family, and the family's mission today.

Paris archbishop says 'there will be no spectacular revolution at the synod'

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2015 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There are no “spectacular revolutions” in the offing at the Synod of Bishops, and those expecting one will be disappointed, one of the three president delegates of Synod of Bishops said Monday in a press briefing.

Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris underscored that the “discussion at the synod was coloured, even filtered, by inaccurate media reports” but that “the Pope and the synod do not want to listen to what is floating in the air, and fashionable, today.”

Pope Francis asks for prayers ahead of synod discussion

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2015 / 04:51 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Sunday Angelus address Pope Francis stressed the role of spouses in generating children, and asked for prayers ahead of the synod discussions beginning tomorrow.

The Pope opened his Oct. 4 address by noting how he had just celebrated Mass opening the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will reflect on the theme “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”

Vatican responds to CDF official’s “coming out”

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2015 / 05:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The director of the Holy See press office has issued a statement in response to Vatican official Msgr. Krzysztof Charamsa's declaration in a recent interview that he is homosexual and has a boyfriend.

Msgr. Charamsa, 43, granted a video interview to Italian agency Corriere della Sera published on Oct. 3 in which he, speaking in Polish, announced that he is "a homosexual priest, with a partner."

Pages