Vatican News

Detroit man thought he was a priest. He wasn't even a baptized Catholic

Denver Newsroom, Aug 22, 2020 / 02:10 pm (CNA).-  

If you think you’re a priest, and you really aren’t, you have a problem. So do a lot of other people. The baptisms you performed are valid baptisms. But the confirmations? No. The Masses you celebrated were not valid. Nor the absolutions or anointings. And the marriages? Well...it’s complicated. Some yes, some no. It depends on the paperwork, believe it or not.

Bishops in southern Africa thank Pope Francis for 300,000 euro donation

Vatican City, Aug 20, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- The bishops’ conferences of Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi thanked Pope Francis last week for his gift of 300,000 euros ($355,000) to help vulnerable populations in the three southern African countries.

In their letter to the pope, the bishops expressed their joy and gratitude at the donation, which will support people who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by natural disasters such as flooding and droughts.

Pope Francis: Make coronavirus vaccine available to all

Vatican City, Aug 19, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- A potential coronavirus vaccine should be made available to all, Pope Francis said at the general audience Wednesday.

“It would be sad if, for the vaccine for COVID-19, priority were to be given to the richest! It would be sad if this vaccine were to become the property of this nation or another, rather than universal and for all,” Pope Francis said Aug. 19.

International pilgrims scarce as pandemic subsides in Italy

Rome, Italy, Aug 17, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- As life returns to normal in Italy, Catholic pilgrimage destinations are celebrating feasts publicly again. But, there’s one thing glaringly missing: international pilgrims.

“Until there isn’t greater certainty, we won’t see a full recovery,” Sergio Desisto, spokesman for the Diocese of Rome’s pilgrim office spokesman Sergio Destito told EWTN News last week.

Pope Francis donates ventilators and ultrasounds to coronavirus-hit Brazil

Vatican City, Aug 17, 2020 / 10:10 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has donated ventilators and ultrasound scanners to hospitals in coronavirus-ravaged Brazil.

In a Aug. 17 press statement, papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski said that 18 Dräger intensive care ventilators and six Fuji portable ultrasound scanners would be shipped to Brazil on the pope’s behalf.

Pope Francis tells Brazil's consecrated Catholics: Jesus must be your 'first and only love'

Vatican City, Aug 17, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has urged consecrated men and women in Brazil to remember that Jesus must be their “first and only love.”

In a letter marking the country’s First National Week of Consecrated Life, observed Aug. 16-22, the pope said that religious should prioritize prayer.

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