Vatican News

Exorcist: Temptation – not possession – is the most significant demonic activity

Vatican City, May 10, 2019 / 10:54 am (CNA).- Though dramatic representations of demonic possessions, as seen in Hollywood, can make them appear to be the primary method of the devil, one Dominican priest and exorcist has warned that the greater and more common threat to a person’s salvation is the temptation to sin.

“The most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,” Fr. Francois Dermine, OP, told CNA May 10.

What do Jews and Christians have in common? Love of neighbor, Pope Francis says

Vatican City, May 9, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The love of neighbor is a common commitment among Christians and Jews, Pope Francis said Tuesday, to teachers and students at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Analysis: Is Pope Francis' new abuse plan the answer Catholics are looking for?

Vatican City, May 9, 2019 / 11:04 am (CNA).- Pope Francis, the “pope of surprises,” lived up to his nickname this morning, by releasing a comprehensive canonical plan to address the investigation of bishops accused of sexual abuse or coercion, or of interfering in investigation of such conduct.

Dominican scholar: Church crisis calls for renewal of Catholic teaching on freedom

Vatican City, May 9, 2019 / 10:57 am (CNA).- According to a Dominican scholar, the crisis of priestly fidelity is connected to a new cultural conception of human freedom – and the solution will require re-embracing the Church’s view of freedom as something which points to God.

Vatican issues norms for reports of abuse of minors, seminarians, and religious

Vatican City, May 9, 2019 / 04:01 am (CNA).- New Vatican norms for the Church’s handling of sex abuse, issued Thursday, place seminarians and religious coerced into sexual activity through the misuse of authority in the same criminal category as abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

Analysis: Power, and its appearance, in Vatican curial reform

Vatican City, May 8, 2019 / 05:35 pm (CNA).- In the coming months, Pope Francis is expected to approve a final draft of a new governing constitution for the Roman Curia. Evangelium praedicate, as it is expected to be called, will mark the culmination of six years of reforming efforts led by the pope’s Council of Cardinals.

The world needs new evangelizers, Pope Francis says

Vatican City, May 8, 2019 / 03:56 am (CNA).- Like Saints Cyril and Methodius shared the Gospel with the Slavic people in the 9th century, today the world is still in need of Christian evangelization, Pope Francis said Wednesday.

Cyril and Methodius “were able to use their culture with creativity to transmit the Christian message to the Slavic peoples; they created a new alphabet with which they translated the Bible and the liturgical texts into the Slavic language,” he said May 8.

Full text of Pope Francis' in-flight press conference from North Macedonia

Aboard the papal plane, May 7, 2019 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- Please read below for CNA's full transcript of the pope's May 7 in-flight press conference from Skopje, North Macedonia to Rome:

Pope Francis: No plans for female deacons, but study continues

Vatican City, May 7, 2019 / 02:45 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis said Tuesday that the Vatican commission exploring the possibility of female deacons continues its study, but does not have any consensus that would lead soon to a plan of action.

“For the female diaconate, there is a way to imagine it with a different view from the male diaconate,” Pope Francis said May 7 during an in-flight press conference returning from North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Make something beautiful with your life, Pope tells Macedonian youth

Skopje, North Macedonia, May 7, 2019 / 11:31 am (CNA).- Pope Francis encouraged youth in North Macedonia Tuesday to follow Mother Teresa’s example and make something beautiful out of their lives.

“Each of you is called, like Mother Teresa, to work with your hands, to take life seriously and make something beautiful of it,” Pope Francis said in Skopje May 7.

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