Vatican News

Pope extends Jubilee mandate on abortion, SSPX confession

Rome, Italy, Nov 21, 2016 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although the Jubilee of Mercy has ended, Pope Francis has decided that some of the novelties he applied to the Church during the Holy Year will continue.

He is allowing all priests to absolve the sin of abortion from here on out, while SSPX priests will be able to continue hearing confessions validly.

How an ex-prostitute's horrific suffering moved Pope Francis

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2016 / 09:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis still remembers his meeting with a former prostitute who had suffered much.

In a new interview, the Pope recalled the time he met with a young pregnant woman from Africa who was “beautiful, young (and) exploited.”

At close of Jubilee, Pope Francis says it’s a reminder of what’s essential

Vatican City, Nov 20, 2016 / 03:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis closed the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, officially marking the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, which he said is a reminder that love is at the core of God’s attitude, rather than power and prestige.

“This Year of Mercy invites us to rediscover the core, to return to what is essential,” the Pope said Nov. 20, the Feast of Christ the King.

Why Bangladesh's new cardinal thinks the papal visit will be great

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 07:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After becoming the first prelate from Bangladesh to ever get a red hat, newly-elevated Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario said his country is waiting for the Pope’s visit in 2017, which will not only rejuvenate the Church, but will help strengthen interfaith ties.

As Pope warns against polarization, new cardinals reflect

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 02:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis spoke out sharply against the “virus of polarization,” three new American cardinals saw a chance for a serious examination of conscience.

“I thought it was very timely, what the Holy Father said,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin told journalists Nov. 19.

Pope warns new cardinals against falling into polemics, division

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 03:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday Pope Francis handed a red hat to 17 new cardinals, warning them against the danger of falling into polemics and animosity and encouraging them to be close to their people, imitating God’s mercy.

“Ours is an age of grave global problems and issues. We live at a time in which polarization and exclusion are burgeoning and considered the only way to resolve conflicts,” the Pope said Nov. 19.

Pope tells bishops to have compassion on those with failed marriages

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 01:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Friday Pope Francis stopped by a formation course for bishops on the new marriage nullity process, telling attendees that as bishops, and now as local judges in annulment cases, they must pursue the truth, but never exclude those whose marriages have failed.

Like money too much? It'll ruin your life, Pope Francis warns priests

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 12:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Friday had a question for priests: “Are you attached to money?”

“The house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of love,” he said in his Nov. 18 homily. “The Lord of Money is constantly seeking to enter inside.”

Pope Francis spoke at his Friday morning Mass at Casa Santa Martha’s chapel, largely attended by priests.

In new interview, Pope reflects on close of Jubilee

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a lengthy new interview, Pope Francis opened up about his thoughts on the Jubilee of Mercy as well as progress made in the field of ecumenism, both of which he said have roots in the Second Vatican Council.

Asked what the Year of Mercy has meant to him, the Pope said that he hopes “many people have discovered themselves to be very loved by Jesus and have allowed themselves to be embraced by him.”

There is no justification for killing innocent people, Pope says

Vatican City, Nov 17, 2016 / 08:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a meeting with the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Thursday, Pope Francis criticized ongoing violence in Iraq and Syria, saying no motive can justify or allow the killing of innocent people, especially children.

Asking the Lord for the “gift of peace,” the Pope said he was “dismayed by what continues to happen in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria.”

Retreat House Bandra