Vatican News

Pope Francis prays for stability in Burma as protestors condemn coup

Vatican City, Feb 7, 2021 / 06:14 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed Sunday for justice and national stability in Burma as tens of thousands protest the Feb. 1 military coup.

“These days I am following with great concern the developments of the situation that has arisen in Myanmar,” the pope said Feb. 7, using the country’s official name. Burma is “a country that, since the time of my apostolic visit in 2017, I carry in my heart with much affection.”

Pope Francis calls Focolare Movement to 'dynamic fidelity' after election of new president

Vatican City, Feb 6, 2021 / 06:39 am (CNA).- Pope Francis on Saturday encouraged the Focolare Movement to have “dynamic fidelity” as the third president of the international Catholic organization begins her term.

Margaret Karram, an Arab Catholic originally from the Holy Land, was elected president of the Focolare Movement Jan. 31.

Pope Francis names religious sister, priest as under-secretaries of the Synod of Bishops

Vatican City, Feb 6, 2021 / 05:20 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Saturday appointed a Spanish priest and a French religious sister as under-secretaries of the Synod of Bishops.

It is the first time a woman has held a position of this level within the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín and Sr. Nathalie Becquart will replace Bishop Fabio Fabene, who was named secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in January.

Pope Francis nominates new prosecutor, judges for Vatican Court of Appeal

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2021 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis on Friday tapped a long-time Rome prosecutor to be public prosecutor for the Vatican City State’s Court of Appeal.

He also nominated two new judges for the same court: Msgr. Francesco Viscome of the Roman Rota and Italian judge Massimo Massella Ducci Teri.

Catia Summaria, 73, will be the new promoter of justice, filling the position left vacant since Italian jurist Raffaele Coppola ended a six-year term in April 2019.

Pope Francis and Benedict XVI receive second dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2021 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI have both received their second and final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a Vatican source confirmed to CNA.

Pope Francis and Benedict had received the first dose of the vaccine last month, as confirmed by Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, on Jan. 14.

Pope Francis calls human fraternity the ‘challenge of our century’

Vatican City, Feb 4, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Human fraternity is “the challenge of our century,” Pope Francis said on Thursday, as he marked the first International Day of Human Fraternity together with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.

“Either we are brothers, or, allow me to say, everything will fall apart,” the pope said during an online event on Feb. 4. “This is the challenge of our century. It is the challenge of our times.”

Pope Francis hails musicians’ ‘new creativity’ amid pandemic disruption

Vatican City, Feb 4, 2021 / 06:05 am (CNA).- Pope Francis praised musicians on Thursday for showing “new creativity” despite severe restrictions imposed on their work by the coronavirus pandemic.    

In a Feb. 4 video message to participants in an online conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture, he also sympathized with artists whose livelihoods are threatened by the virus. 

Pope Francis’ Angelus address moves outdoors as coronavirus restrictions ease in Rome

Vatican City, Feb 3, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis will speak to a live audience once again as his weekly Angelus address moves back to St. Peter’s Square on Sunday after a seven-week absence.

The pope leads the traditional Marian prayer from the Vatican every Sunday at noon local time -- usually from a window overlooking the square, which is filled with people who come to hear him.

Pages