Vatican News

Vatican media guru brings digital perspective to new post

Vatican City, Feb 26, 2016 / 03:25 pm (CNA).- There's probably very few people understand Church communications better than Msgr. Paul Tighe.

For the better part of a decade, he has been the top Irishman and go-to man in the Vatican when it comes to media – an experience he hopes to incorporate into his new position as adjunct-secretary to the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Pope Francis spends his Friday with people in drug, alcohol recovery

Vatican City, Feb 26, 2016 / 11:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Continuing his knack for surprises, Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at a rehabilitation center for those addicted to drugs and alcohol as part of monthly works of mercy, which he carries out on Fridays during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

He traveled to the Fr. Mario Picchi Italian Center for Solidarity on Friday afternoon for the surprise visit, where he spoke with the 60 guests receiving treatment, and offered words of hope.

God's love is the 'beating heart' of the Church, Pope Francis says

Venice, Fla., Feb 26, 2016 / 05:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis marked the 10th anniversary of Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” by telling participants in a conference commemorating the document that not only is love God’s identity, but it’s also the very heart and life of the Church.

“God does not simply have the desire or capacity to love; God is love: charity is his essence, it is his nature,” the Pope said Feb. 26.

Did Pope Francis like to dance? And other questions from kids

Vatican City, Feb 26, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his first children's book Pope Francis touches on a variety of both lighthearted and sensitive topics from war and solving the world’s conflicts, to Sunday school, miracles and his preference for tango.

When asked by 6-year-old Prajla from Albania if he liked to dance as a child, the Pope said he liked it “a lot! I liked to be together with other children, playing...dancing our typical dances from Argentina. I had a lot of fun.”

Pope Francis cancels appointments due to a slight fever

Vatican City, Feb 25, 2016 / 07:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ announced that after Pope Francis celebrated his usual morning Mass, he canceled the rest of his appointments due to a small fever.

The spokesman told journalists Feb. 25 that the cancellations were caused by “a slight indisposition,” which he described as a “slight fever.”

Pope Francis wants more dialogue with Islam. Is Egypt the key?

Vatican City, Feb 25, 2016 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For Pope Francis, dialogue with Islam is a core issue. He recently voiced hopes to meet a major Sunni leader: the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed el-Tayeb.

“I want to meet him. I know that he would like it,” the Pope said during his Feb. 18 in-flight press conference.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, headed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, is reaching out to al-Azhar Mosque

Pope: wealth and power are good, but only when used to serve

Vatican City, Feb 24, 2016 / 05:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis cautioned that unless wealth and power are put at the service of society, especially the poor, they risk becoming instruments of corruption, private interests and various forms of abuse.

“Wealth and power are realities which can be good and useful for the common good, if they are put at the service of the poor and of everyone, with justice and charity,” the Pope said Feb. 24.

Pope Francis to Curia: Your job is to be faithful

Vatican City, Feb 23, 2016 / 11:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis celebrated the feast of the Chair of St. Peter with a reflection and Mass for members of the Roman Curia, during which he told them to be faithful in their work, and to keep their eyes on Christ.

“May our thought and our gaze be fixed on Jesus Christ, the beginning and end of every action of the Church. He is the foundation and no one may lay another,” the Pope told members of the Curia Feb. 22.

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