Vatican News

Pope: God invites everyone to universal banquet

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2014 / 12:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis said that God does not discriminate about who is invited to his banquet, and called on Christians to abandon their comforts and go toward the marginalized.

“We are all called not to reduce the Kingdom of God to the confines of our ‘little churches,’ but to dilate the Church to the dimensions of the Kingdom of God,” the pontiff said before his Oct. 12 recitation of the traditional Marian prayer.

Highways, byways and sinners: these are the missionary fields

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2014 / 04:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his thanksgiving mass for the canonization of two Canadian Saints Pope Francis said that a true missionary goes out of himself, boldly bringing God’s message of love to all without distinction.

“Missionaries are those who, in docility to the Holy Spirit, have the courage to live the Gospel…they have gone out to call everyone, in the highways and byways of the world,” the Pope said in his Oct. 12 homily.

Sheer 'barbarism' against Middle East families must end

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2014 / 03:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Synod of Bishops on Friday denounced “barbaric” violence in the Middle East, saying the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt offers a sign of hope and reconciliation for all families suffering due to armed conflict.

“We join with the Holy Father Francis in emphasizing that no one may use the name of God to commit violence, and that to kill in the name of God is a grave sacrilege,” the Oct. 10 message read.

Teen Malala's Nobel prize sparks pride in Pakistani bishop

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2014 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Malala Yousafzai has received the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 – making her the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious award and prompting local Archbishop Joseph Coutts to laud the “great honor” she's bestowed on the country.

The Pakistani teenager gained global attention when she was shot in the head by Taliban activists in 2012, at the age of 14, as a punishment for her public campaign for the rights of girls to be educated.

Waiting for the decisive second half of the Synod on the Family

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2014 / 02:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Synod of Bishops on Friday entered its decisive second phase, with the formation of small groups which are to come to decisions which will be synthesized into the synod's concluding “relatio.”

The relatio will form the basis for discussion in the 2015 ordinary synod on the family. It will be presented Oct. 13 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, who is serving as general rapporteur for the Synod of Bishops.

Be on your guard – the devil never rests, Pope Francis warns

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2014 / 06:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily on Friday Pope Francis encouraged faithful to guard their hearts by doing a daily examination of conscience, saying that we if we don't, we risk letting the devil in rather than the Lord.

“Guard the heart, as a house is guarded, with a key. And then watch the heart, like a sentinel: How often do wicked thoughts, wicked intentions, jealousy, envy enter in?” the Pope asked his Oct. 10 Mass attendees.

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