Vatican News

Pandemic forces Vatican to scale down World Day of the Poor events

Vatican City, Nov 12, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- Coronavirus restrictions have forced the Vatican to scale down this Sunday’s commemoration of the World Day of the Poor, a Vatican archbishop said Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference Nov. 12, Archbishop Rino Fisichella said that the pope would not be able to host a lunch for poor inhabitants of Rome at the Vatican as he had in previous years.

Analysis: After McCarrick Report, embracing the cross

Denver Newsroom, Nov 11, 2020 / 05:10 pm (CNA).- Ordinarily, a news analysis attempts to bring some context or expertise to a situation, in order to assess why something has happened, what might happen next, and whether any of it will prove to be important.

A news analysis often speculates about what newsmakers will do: At CNA, analysis considers often what the pope might do, or USCCB leaders, or bishops of prominent dioceses.

Pope Francis blesses Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal statue

Vatican City, Nov 11, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis blessed a statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary of the Miraculous Medal at the end of his Wednesday general audience.

The statue will soon begin to travel around Italy as part of an evangelization initiative by the Vincentian Congregation of the Mission. The pope met with a delegation of Vincentians, led by their superior general, Fr. Tomaž Mavrič, on Nov. 11.

'We need to look this evil in the eye' - Clergy abuse survivors respond to McCarrick Report

Denver Newsroom, Nov 11, 2020 / 04:21 am (CNA).- After the Nov. 10 release of the Vatican’s McCarrick Report, some survivors of clerical abuse told CNA they remain skeptical that the report contains the full truth about McCarrick, and say were disappointed that rumors of McCarrick’s misconduct with adults largely appeared not to have been investigated.

The McCarrick Report's provocative tale of a KGB encounter, and an FBI request

Denver Newsroom, Nov 10, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- An undercover KGB agent tried to befriend ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick in the early 1980s, prompting the FBI to ask the rising churchman to exploit this connection to counter Soviet intelligence, according to claims in the Vatican’s report on McCarrick released Tuesday.

The Nov. 10 McCarrick Report offers detail on McCarrick’s church career and the sexual abuse his successful personality helped to conceal.

McCarrick Report: What Cardinal O’Connor said in 1999

Vatican City, Nov 10, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).- The Vatican’s report on Theodore McCarrick released Tuesday includes a letter written by an American cardinal in 1999, who objected to McCarrick’s potential appointment to higher office, on the basis of existing allegations of misconduct, including incidents involving sharing a bed with seminarians at a New Jersey beach house.

JPII biographer says 'pathological' McCarrick 'lied to’ the pope

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 10, 2020 / 09:30 am (CNA).- A leading Catholic scholar has said that former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was able to deceive St. John Paul II to secure his own promotion, despite allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. The Vatican’s report on the career of McCarrick, published Tuesday, identifies accusations against McCarrick which were known at the time he was appointed Archbishop of Washington and named a cardinal.

Pope Francis kisses hand of missionary priest, freed after two-year captivity in Africa

Vatican City, Nov 9, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis met Monday with an Italian Catholic missionary priest who was freed last month in Mali after he was kidnapped from his parish in Niger in 2018.

Speaking to Vatican News, the 59-year-old priest said that when greeting him, the pope not only shook his hand, but also kissed it. “I was not expecting [the gesture],” Fr. Pierluigi Maccalli said.

Pope Francis marks 500th anniversary of first Mass in Chile

Vatican City, Nov 9, 2020 / 05:35 am (CNA).- Pope Francis urged Catholics in Chile Monday to renew their gratitude for the gift of the Eucharist in a letter marking the 500th anniversary of the country’s first Mass. 

The pope noted in a Nov. 9 letter that Chileans could not observe the anniversary with large-scale events because of coronavirus restrictions. 

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