Vatican News

Pope Francis grants plenary indulgence to Catholics marking Guadalupe feast at home

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2020 / 07:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence to Catholics celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at home this Saturday.

Vatican congregation issues new norms for ecclesiastical institutions of higher education

Vatican City, Dec 10, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education issued Wednesday three new instructions on ecclesiastical institutions of higher education.

Council for Inclusive Capitalism launches partnership with Vatican

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- The Council for Inclusive Capitalism launched a partnership with the Vatican on Tuesday, saying that it would be “under the moral guidance” of Pope Francis.

The council consists of global companies and organizations which share a mission to “harness the private sector to create a more inclusive, sustainable and trusted economic system,” according to its website.

Pope Francis gives Vatican employees flu medicine for Christmas

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Christmas at the Vatican will be a little different this year -- and in keeping with the times, Pope Francis has eschewed a traditional gift for something a bit more practical.

Rather than a bottle of sparkling wine and the traditional Italian holiday cake panettone, the pope’s Christmas present to Vatican employees is over-the-counter flu medicine, according to Italian media.

Pope Francis: ‘Even death trembles when a Christian prays’

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Prayer is so powerful that “even death trembles when a Christian prays,” Pope Francis said at the general audience Wednesday.

In his address Dec. 9, the pope said that this was the case because Christ triumphed over death at the resurrection.

Ambassador: Kazakhstan expects visit from Pope Francis in 2021

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- The ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Holy See has said that there are “high hopes” that Pope Francis will visit the central Asian country next year, if the coronavirus situation permits.

In an interview with EWTN Dec. 4, Alibek Bakayev said that Kazakhstan was planning to host the seventh edition of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in June 2021, and he expected that Pope Francis would attend the event.

Cardinal Parolin admitted to hospital for surgery

CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- The Vatican Secretary of State was admitted to a Roman hospital Tuesday for a scheduled surgery to treat prostate enlargement.

“It is expected that in a few days he will be able to leave the hospital and gradually resume his work,” the Holy See Press Office said Dec. 8.

Pietro Cardinal Parolin is being treated at Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic.

Pope Francis: the Immaculate Conception is ‘one of the wonders of the story of salvation’

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 06:20 am (CNA).- The Immaculate Conception is “one of the wonders of the story of salvation,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Tuesday.

Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the pope encouraged Catholics to entrust themselves to Mary, seeking purity and holiness.

Pope Francis proclaims Year of St. Joseph

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 04:08 am (CNA).- Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph Tuesday in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church.

The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope.

Scots College in Rome to change location in the city

Rome, Italy, Dec 7, 2020 / 09:38 am (CNA).- The Scottish seminary in Rome is looking to relocate closer to the city center next year, after determining that needed updates to the current building will not be cost-effective.

The Pontifical Scots College has been at its present location, about six miles north of Rome’s city center, since 1964. The move will be only the college’s fourth since it was founded in 1600.

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