Vatican News

'Shame and sorrow' – Holy See responds to Pennsylvania report

Vatican City, Aug 16, 2018 / 02:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy See on Thursday denounced sexual abuse and called for accountability for both perpetrators and leaders who covered up their crimes, following the release of a report detailing alleged clerical abuse in Pennsylvania.

“The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible,” said the statement, released Aug. 16.

Pope Francis entrusts those who are suffering to the Virgin Mary

Vatican City, Aug 15, 2018 / 07:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, Pope Francis entrusted any person who is suffering, in mind or body, to the care of the Mother of God.

Invoking “Mary, Consoler of the afflicted,” the pope entrusted to her “the anguish and torment of those who, in so many parts of the world, suffer in body and spirit.”

“Receive our heavenly Mother for all comfort, courage and serenity,” he said Aug. 15.

Pope names long-time Vatican diplomat as deputy of Secretariat of State

Vatican City, Aug 15, 2018 / 04:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Wednesday named Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, a member of the Vatican diplomatic corp for over 25 years, the ‘sostituto,’ or ‘substitute,’ of the Secretariat of State.

Apostolic nuncio to Mozambique since 2015, Pena will start in the position of substitute Oct. 15, according to a Vatican statement Aug. 15.

Waiting for a new deputy at the Vatican Secretariat of State

Vatican City, Aug 9, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis’ trip to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families will be likely his first international trip not to include the “sostituto,” or deputy, of the Vatican Secretariat of State among the papal entourage.
 
Since the former “sostituto”, Giovanni Angelo Becciu, was created cardinal and promoted to lead the Congregation for the Cause of Saints in May, the position has been vacant.
 

Archbishop Fisichella talks Veritatis splendor, Francis, and development of doctrine

Vatican City, Aug 9, 2018 / 01:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an interview with Vatican News marking the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis splendor, Archbishop Salvatore Rino Fisichella said that “the magisterium must never be used instrumentally to place a contrast in the development of the doctrine.”

Pope Francis: Trust God – not idols

Vatican City, Aug 8, 2018 / 04:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Attachment to idols is a failure to trust totally in God – and to reject them, Catholics must accept their weaknesses, inviting Christ to heal their hearts, Pope Francis said Wednesday.

Healing from the attachment to idols comes from Jesus Christ, “who became poor, who accepted failure, who took our precariousness to the end to fill it with love and strength,” the pope said Aug. 8.

Canadian man says he asked for home care, was offered assisted suicide

London, Canada, Aug 8, 2018 / 12:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Canadian man suffering from an incurable disease claims that despite asking for home care, the medical team at an Ontario hospital would offer him only medically assisted suicide.

Roger Foley, a 42-year-old from Ontario, has cerebellar ataxia, a rare disorder that limits his neurological abilities, restricting mobility in his arms, legs, as well as the performance of other daily tasks.

Can Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals still deliver on reform?

Vatican City, Aug 7, 2018 / 04:17 pm (CNA).- By most accounts, Pope Francis was elected with a mandate to reform the Roman Curia- the complex network of dicasteries, commissions, and councils charged with the central administrative work of the Catholic Church- a network that, even to insiders and experts, more often resembles a rabbit warren than a well-defined system of governable offices with clear responsibilities.

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