Vatican News

Family needed today as much as ever, synod official emphasizes

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2014 / 05:34 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The family is not an outdated model, and Catholics should defend it from the sins that call into question and often destroy the traditional family, the general rapporteur of the Synod of Bishops said Monday.

Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest presented the 14-page “relatio ante disceptationem” at an Oct. 6 press conference.

Benedict could attend Paul VI beatification, spokesman reveals

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2014 / 02:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Retired pontiff Benedict XVI may take part to Paul VI's beatification Mass Oct. 19, revealed Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office.
 
Asked if the former Pope was expected to give his personal contribution to the two-week synod of bishops, Fr. Lombardi said during a press conference that “it is not expected that the Pope emeritus will take part in the synod, which is so committing and long.”
 

Be frank, humble – Pope Francis tells bishops at synod launch

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2014 / 07:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During the opening session for the extraordinary synod on the family, Pope Francis told participants not to be afraid of saying what they truly think, and that only by doing this can they reach real conclusions.

“You have to say all that which in the Lord you feel you have to say: without human respect, without timidity,” the Pope told synod participants in his Oct. 6 opening remarks.

Pope: Family needs Scripture to move forward in faith, hope

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2014 / 01:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- “In order for the family to proceed well, with faith and hope,” said Pope Francis to crowds in St. Peter's Square for the weekly Angelus address, “it needs to be nourished by the Word of God.”

Helping to illustrate the Holy Father's words, all the pilgrims gathered in the Square had the opportunity to take home a copy of the Bible, courtesy of the Pauline Brothers who this year are celebrating the centenary of their foundation.

Synod must serve God's dream, not try to 'take over,' Pope says

Vatican City, Oct 5, 2014 / 08:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The work of the Synod on the Family is more than a discussion of ideals or a show of intelligence, but a means of realizing the Lord's plan through the pastoral care of the family, said Pope Francis.

He reflected on this topic during his homily for Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to inaugurate the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization, which runs from Oct. 5-19.

Vatican official says synod is 'about family, not divorce'

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2014 / 12:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a press conference revealing the official working calendar for the synod of bishops, the group's secretary general said the event will take on a new flavor and shouldn't be pegged to just one issue.

“The Synod is about family, not divorce. Let's not monopolize it with Western problems,” Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri said Oct. 3 in response to a question surrounding the topic of divorced and remarried Catholics.

Pope: Do we try to be saved on our own or through Christ?

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2014 / 10:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy Father reflected on today’s Gospel reading from Luke 10:13-16, saying that it was the leaders of Christ’s day who “close(d) the door to God’s way of salvation.”

In this passage, Christ admonishes the people of Charazin and Bethsaida for their hard-heartedness towards his message of salvation and warns them, “If the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented.”

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