Vatican News

Be like children – believe in your guardian angel, Pope says

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2014 / 07:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily for the Feast of Holy Guardian Angels, Pope Francis told those gathered for daily Mass to be like children who pay attention to their “traveling companion.”

The doctrine of the angels, the Holy Father stressed, is not imaginary, but “reality.” Citing what Jesus has said, “I send an angel before you to protect you, to accompany you along the path, so that you do not make mistakes!”

'I can't find the words to say' – Pope Francis hails surviving migrants

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2014 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a private audience between Pope Francis and the survivors and family members of the 368 migrants who perished in a tragic shipwreck last fall, the pontiff asked the world to be open to those who suffer.

“I feel things that I can't tell you because I can't find the words to say them,” the Pope said during the Oct. 1 encounter. “All that you have suffered should be contemplated in silence, crying and looking for a way to be close to you.”

Cardinal Pell's secretariat continues economic reform at the Vatican

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2014 / 02:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Secretariat for the Economy has announced that it is developing a financial management manual which is to be the basis of budgeting and accounting operations in 2015 for Vatican agencies.

“To support the new budgeting and financial management practices being developed under the supervision of the Council, the Secretariat is preparing a manual of key financial management policies,” says a bulletin released Sept. 26 by the economy secretariat.

Vatican media reform committee to make first proposals by Easter

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2014 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Having met for the first time last week, the committee to reform the Vatican's media and communications will continue to formulate its proposals, being able to present them by Easter of 2015.

In an interview granted to Vatican Radio Sept. 24, Chris Patten, who chairs the committee, emphasized that the Church’s resources must be “spent as effectively as possible” to communicate its unique message of “healing, love, hope and generosity of spirit.”

Iraqi couple finds courage in a Pope who suffers with them

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2014 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An elderly couple who lost everything after fleeing their home due to ISIS violence met with Pope Francis on Sunday, saying the encounter gave them hope because they know they are not alone.

“The call of the Holy Father for the whole world to pray for Iraq has meant a lot to us because in this call we have seen and heard the suffering of the Holy Father due to the persecution of Christians, especially in Iraq,” Mubarack Hano told CNA Sept. 29.

Family synod an opportunity to support marriage, scholars urge

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2014 / 04:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Law professors, family advocates and clergy have asked those participating in the upcoming synod of bishops to consider how best to help couples understand and live their marriages, in light of such negative family trends as divorce, cohabitation, and pornography.

More than 40 academics signed the open letter, which has been sent to the Holy Father and to the cardinals and bishops participating in the upcoming Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family.

Vatican spurns UN child committee's call for changes to canon law

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2014 / 12:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy See has rejected the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child's call for changes to canon law, and has formally criticized the group for a “grave misunderstanding” of the Holy See's sovereignty.

In a response released Sept. 26, the Holy See delivered its comments on the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of Child.

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