Vatican News

Pope Francis says he's open to studying the female diaconate

Vatican City, May 12, 2016 / 10:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis said he would be open to the idea of forming a commission to study the historical context of the female diaconate, as well as the possibility of women serving as deacons today.

He spoke to some 800 members of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), who are meeting in Rome May 9-13 for their Plenary Assembly, which focuses largely on the role of women in the Church, and obstacles hindering it.

The amazing promise of adult stem cells, and how the Church supports it

Vatican City, May 11, 2016 / 04:51 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- 3-D printing of human tissue. Organ transplant therapy for cancer victims that reduces fatalities by 75 percent.

These developments are on the cutting edge of what adult stem cells can do for the medical field. And standing alongside them is the Catholic Church, which promotes ethical forms of research that have yielded the most promising results.

No one can take our dignity – not even the devil, Pope Francis says

Vatican City, May 11, 2016 / 04:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said the father’s embrace in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is a reminder that we never ought to despair, because nothing and no one can take away our dignity as children of God.

Pointing to how the father in the parable had watched and waited for his younger son’s return, Francis noted how “tenderly he saw him from afar, meaning that he waited for him constantly, from above.”

Pope Francis: Be witnesses of the Gospel every day

Vatican City, May 8, 2016 / 07:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis commemorated the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven by reminding the faithful of their duty to be witnesses of the Gospel every day of the week, in all areas of life – and not just on Sundays.

“We must carry this witness every week: Christ is with us; Christ has gone up into Heaven, and is with us; Christ is alive!” the Pope said during his May 8 Regina Caeli address to the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

'You are witnesses of Christ,' Cardinal Parolin tells new Swiss Guards

Vatican City, May 6, 2016 / 02:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Every year on the Anniversary of the 1527 Sack of Rome, the new recruits for the Pontifical Swiss Guard swear an oath to protect and defend the Pope, with their lives if necessary. This year 23 young men joined their peers and predecessors in making that oath.

“You are witnesses of Christ – here in Rome, in your homeland of Switzerland and wherever you go,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, told the new guards May 6.

Receiving Charlemagne Prize, Pope says 'I have a dream' for Europe

Vatican City, May 6, 2016 / 06:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As he received the prestigious Charlemagne Prize Friday, Pope Francis laid out his vision for a renewed European continent in what could easily be his own version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous “I Have a Dream” speech.

In the May 6 address Francis said “I dream of a new European humanism” – one based on a fresh ideas and a revamped economy that promotes integration and respect for human dignity.

Pope Francis' continuous appeal for a better Europe to be rewarded

Vatican City, May 5, 2016 / 01:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis is set to receive on Friday the prestigious Charlemagne Prize for his efforts in the unification of Europe, drawing major leaders on the continent such as the King of Spain to the celebration.

Founded in 1950, the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is “the oldest and best-known prize awarded for work done in the service of European unification,” according to the organization’s website.

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