Vatican News

How a prostitute's story taught Pope Francis the meaning of mercy

Vatican City, Jan 13, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis was a parish priest in Argentina, he met a mother with young children who had been abandoned by her husband.

She had no steady income. When odd jobs were scarce, she would prostitute herself in order to feed her children and provide for her family. During that time, she would visit the local parish, which tried to help her by offering food and material goods.

Pope Francis might travel to Armenia this year. Here's why.

Vatican City, Jan 13, 2016 / 02:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis could make two additional international trips in 2016, including a possible trip to Armenia.

This possibility is suggested by gaps in the papal events schedule published on the website of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. The prefecture coordinates and prepares all the Pope’s audiences and visits in the Vatican and oversees the arrangements for the Pope’s pastoral visits to Rome and to Italy.

We're wounded – that’s why we need mercy, Pope Francis says

Vatican City, Jan 12, 2016 / 07:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his new book on mercy Pope Francis offers extensive reflections on the topic that has shaped much of his pontificate, getting personal about his own experiences of mercy, what it means for him, and why humanity is in such desperate need of it.

“This is a time for mercy. The Church is showing her maternal side, her motherly face, to a humanity that is wounded,” the Pope said in his new book “The Name of God is Mercy,” released Jan. 12.

Pope to diplomats: Migrants present challenges, but don't forget their dignity

Vatican City, Jan 11, 2016 / 07:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis gave his first major speech of the year to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, focusing on the hot-button topic of migration and the need to find dignified solutions to the problem.

While the increasing number of migrants certainly poses a challenge, Francis said that the basic human dignity of those seeking a better life shouldn’t be overshadowed by the problems that come with them.

Do you celebrate the day of your baptism? Pope Francis asks

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2016 / 05:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Sunday Angelus remarks Pope Francis stressed the importance of both knowing and celebrating the day of our baptism, since it is through the sacrament that we become children of God.

“I ask you a question: who among you remembers the day of their baptism?” the Pope asked during his Jan. 10 Angelus address, marking the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Pope Francis baptizes infants, says faith is their 'greatest inheritance'

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2016 / 03:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis baptized 26 babies in the Sistine Chapel, telling parents to nurture the faith in the lives of their children, because it is the greatest inheritance they can give.

“Don’t forget that the greatest inheritance you can give to your children is the faith. Try to see that it is not lost, nurture it and leave it as an inheritance,” the Pope said Jan. 10.

What's the plan for reforming Vatican communications?

Vatican City, Jan 9, 2016 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Amid the lengthy process of reforming Vatican communications, the Secretariat of State has stated that the Holy See press office's administrative and human resources branches are to be handed over to the new Secretariat for Communications.

The announcement came in a Dec. 21, 2015 letter signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State.

Pope Francis: when you say 'love,' do you really know what it means?

Vatican City, Jan 8, 2016 / 05:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Love was the center of Pope Francis’ second daily homily after taking a break for Christmas, and is a word he said has become so casual that we no longer know exactly what we mean when we say it.

“This word ‘love’ is a word that is used so many times and when we use it we don’t know exactly what it means. What is love?” the Pope said during his Jan. 8 daily Mass in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse.

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