Vatican News

Pope to families: If you hide your problems, they'll only get worse

Vatican City, Jun 24, 2015 / 06:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Family wounds that aren’t dealt with in a healthy and timely manner can have devastating effects on both spouses and children, Pope Francis has said, and encouraged wounded families to work toward healing without letting bitterness build up.

“We know well that every family on occasion suffers moments when one family member offends another,” the Pope told pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his June 24 general audience.

Synod guiding document: families need the Church's message of mercy

Vatican City, Jun 23, 2015 / 08:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The document set to guide this year’s synod discussions on the family touches on hot-button issues such as homosexuality and divorced and remarried couples, stressing that mercy is something every family needs from the Church.
 
“For the Church it’s about starting from the concrete situations of families of today, all are in need of mercy, beginning with those who suffer most,” the document reads.

Pope Francis speaks up for Italy's unemployed youth

Vatican City, Jun 20, 2015 / 12:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Youth unemployment is “a true social plague” that leaves young people feeling useless, Pope Francis told an Italian labor group on Saturday.

“The human being is the center of development, and as long as men and women remain passive or marginalized, the common good cannot be considered fully met,” the Pope told members of the Italian National Federation of the Knights of Labor at the Apostolic Palace in a June 20 audience.

In Middle East martyrdoms, Pope Francis sees seeds of Christian unity

Vatican City, Jun 20, 2015 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Meeting with Syriac Orthodox leaders on Friday, Pope Francis decried the continuing martyrdom of Middle East Christians, and gave special mention to two Christian bishops kidnapped in Syria two years ago.

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and the instrument of the building up of the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and of justice,” the Pope said June 19.

Love life, have fun – a Pope Francis pep talk to Special Olympians

Vatican City, Jun 19, 2015 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met with Italy's top Special Olympics athletes on Friday, encouraging them and all athletes to make sports a place for loyalty, human dignity and joy.

“It is my hope that you all might live the upcoming games in a joyful, passionate, serene manner: have fun,” he said.

The Pope held a June 19 audience for Italy's 150 delegates to the Special Olympics 2015 World Games. The event will be held in Los Angeles, Calif. July 25 to August 2.

Will Pope Francis change the date of Easter?

Vatican City, Jun 19, 2015 / 03:53 am (CNA).- Speaking to a global gathering of priests, Pope Francis signaled an openness to changing the date of Easter in the West so that all Christians around the world could celebrate the feast on the same day.

The Pope on June 12 said “we have to come to an agreement” for a common date on Easter.  

His comments came in remarks to the World Retreat of Priests at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. The event drew priests from five continents.

Saint Francis and his star role in the Pope's new encyclical

Vatican City, Jun 18, 2015 / 03:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis' new encyclical is filled with references to his namesake, whom the Pope says is a model of how an integral ecology goes beyond matters of science and leads humanity to find God in creation.

“I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically,” the Pope wrote.

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