Vatican News

Our limits remind us that we are made for great things – Pope Francis

Vatican City, Aug 20, 2015 / 03:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a message sent on behalf of Pope Francis to the Rimini Meeting, an annual gathering organized by the lay movement Communion and Liberation, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said humanity's limitations point to the greatness to which we are called.

“Life is not an absurd desire, lack is not a sign that we were born 'wrongly', but on the contrary is the bell which alerts us that our nature is made for great things,” the Vatican Secretary of State wrote Aug. 17.

When it comes to work, don't feed off the backs of others, Pope says

Vatican City, Aug 19, 2015 / 11:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that work is something sacred, and called out those who abuse it by either contributing to the unemployment crisis, or refusing to work in order to feed off the system.

“Work is precisely from the human being. It expresses his dignity of being created in the image of God. Therefore it is said that work is sacred,” the Pope said Aug. 19.

Pope Francis mourns death of Hungarian Cardinal Laszlo Paskai

Vatican City, Aug 18, 2015 / 07:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a letter of condolence Pope Francis has offered his comfort and prayer to the Church of Hungary following the recent death of Cardinal Laszlo Paskai, archbishop emeritus of Budapest.

“I was saddened to learn the news of the death of His Eminence Cardinal Laszlo Paskai, OFM,” the Pope said in an Aug. 18 letter, written in English and addressed to the current archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Cardinal Peter Erdo.

Pope Francis: let yourself be transformed by the Eucharist

Vatican City, Aug 16, 2015 / 05:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said that the Eucharist is no mere symbol, but is in fact the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, which has the ability to transform our hearts and minds to be more like him.

“The Eucharist is Jesus who gives himself entirely to us. To nourish ourselves with him and abide in him through Holy Communion, if we do it with faith, transforms our life into a gift to God and to our brothers,” the Pope said Aug. 16.

Benedict XVI and Christian Europe, as seen by a Japanese scholar

Vatican City, Aug 14, 2015 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Benedict XVI’s role in Europe is the focus of a Japanese scholar who says the Pope emeritus’ recent decades show his engagement in a dialogue that promotes both Catholic identity and what he saw as the best of Western values.

“What Pope Benedict XVI wanted to emphasize was the independence of the Catholic Church,” Hajime Konno told CNA Aug. 12. He said this principle of self-determination was central to the Pope on questions of Church reform.

Pope Francis baptizes children of an old friend at the Vatican

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2015 / 12:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a whirlwind trip, Lucas Schaerer and his family – friends of Pope Francis from his time in Buenos Aires – traveled to the Vatican, where the Pope baptized their daughters, Simona and Charo.

“The ceremony was beautiful and simple…Francis celebrated Mass and then we went to a sitting room, where we spoke for a long time,” Argentinian journalist Mercedes Ninci, a close friend of the couple, recalled in comments posted to the Vatican blog Il Sismografo Aug. 12.

Pope Francis: Sundays are a gift from God – don't ruin it

Vatican City, Aug 12, 2015 / 05:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Moments of rest and celebration were the focal point of Francis’ Wednesday general audience, during which he spoke out against a profit-centered mentality and encouraged families to live life at a more human pace.

“Celebration is a precious gift from God. It's a precious gift God has made for the human family. Let's not ruin it,” the Pope said Aug. 12.

For Pope Francis, achieving peace means overcoming indifference

Vatican City, Aug 11, 2015 / 07:59 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- The Vatican announced Tuesday that the theme for 2016’s World Day of Peace will focus on a topic Pope Francis has spoken out against relentlessly since the beginning of his pontificate: indifference.

“Indifference in regard to the scourges of our time is one of the fundamental causes of the lack of peace,” an Aug. 11 statement from the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace read.

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