Five people including the 86-year-old priest, two nuns and two parishioners were held by assailants who raided the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen in Normandy at 9am. The clergyman, named as Jacques Hamel (right), is believed to have been beheaded during the attack while another hostage is fighting for life in hospital. The two attackers…
Mother Teresa will be elevated to sainthood on Sept. 4, the Vatican announced, one day after a committee recognized a second reported miracle attributed to the late Kolkata-based nun. Pope Francis signed a decree Tuesday approving the canonization of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, less than 20 years after her death.
Pope Francis will meet with Patriarch Kyril, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba this month. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the meeting, which will be the first in nearly 1,000 years to bring together the head of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Church, was “beautiful news.”
Pope Francis has recognized the second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, authorizing sainthood for the Roman Catholic nun. The miracle involved healing multiple brain tumors of a Brazilian man, according to a report in the Avvenire newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishop’s Conference. Reports suggest the canonization is expected to take place in Rome in…
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis allegedly met with Pope Francis during his trip to the U.S., her lawyers said Tuesday. Davis, who was jailed for five nights after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, said in a statement she was “humbled” by the pontiff’s invite. “Pope Francis was kind, genuinely…
After addressing a joint meeting of Congress Thursday morning and having lunch with the homeless, Pope Francis flew to New York, landing just after 5 p.m. He will ride in a motorcade to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to lead evening prayers there. For his first New York event, Pope Francis will be ushered through the towering…
10:10 update: Pope Addresses Joint meeting Of Congress Pope: “I am most grateful for your invitation”, “work of Moses good role model for Congress”, “I am also addressing entire people of U.S.” ——- 9:30 update: Pope Meeting with Speaker Boehner Crouds gather at Capitol for Pope’s address Soon: Pope To enter House Chamber —— Pope…
President Obama will welcome Pope Francis to the White House on Wednesday with an elaborate ceremony in front of an expected 15,000 people on the South Lawn. The leader of the Catholic Church will arrive at the South Portico of the White House and be escorted to a stage, where he and Obama will listen…
Watch POPE FRANCIS ARRIVE LIVE ON THE STREAMING FEED Pope Francis was ending his visit to Cuba on Tuesday with a Mass at the country’s most revered shrine and a pep talk with families before flying north to Washington for the start of his U.S. tour. The Pope will be in the U.S. from Sept.…
Pope Francis will visit Cuba from September 19 to 22 as part of a tour that will later take him to the United States. He will give a mass on September 20 in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolucion, and he will also visit Holguin and Santiago de Cuba.
New York officials have joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan in condemning the scalping of tickets to see Pope Francis’ motorcade during his upcoming visit to New York City. About 80,000 tickets were dispersed through a city-sponsored lottery system for the pope’s Sept. 25 procession through Central Park. Tickets were being sold on secondary markets such as…
The Vatican has indicted Jozef Wesolowski its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, on charges that he sexually abused boys while abroad. He will be tried next month for the abuse and for having child pornography on his computer. Wesolowski was recalled from his post in 2013, and subsequently defrocked. The Vatican also accepted the…
A Vatican report released Monday indicates the Vatican is moving toward more tolerance regarding gays and divorce in the Catholic Church. The report comes as Pope Francis and an assembly of 200 bishops enter the second week of their synod. “The Church turns respectfully to those who participate in her life in an incomplete and…
The Church of England voted yes on Monday to allowing female bishops for the first time. Photo: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, second right, and unidentified members of the clergy, arrive for the General Synod meeting, at The University of York, in York England, Monday July 14, 2014. (AP Photo/PA, Lynne Cameron via AP)…
Pope Francis has begged forgiveness from the victims of clergy sex abuse in his first meeting with several abuse survivors. The Vatican quoted Francis as expressing “sorrow” in his homily at a private Mass with six victims Monday for the “sins and grave crimes” of clerical sex abuse against them. Added the pope: “I beg…
convicted by a church tribunal of sex abuse and has been defrocked, the first such sentence handed down against a top papal representative. The Vatican said Friday that Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski was found guilty by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in recent days, and sentenced to the harshest penalty possible against…
“Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the mafia, they are not with God, they are excommunicated,” Francis said during an outdoor Mass in Piana di Sibari. Speaking of the local mafia specifically, the ‘Ndrangheta, Francis said they are an example of “the adoration of evil…
In an attempt to appease angry parishioners, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Atlanta said Saturday that he will sell a $2.2 million residence and move into another available archdiocese property. The decision came after a meeting at the Archdiocese of Atlanta with three advisory councils. Photo: In this March 31, 2014, photo the new $2.2…
Pope Francis said in an interview published Wednesday that the Catholic Church could support same-sex civil unions. The Pope did reiterate the Catholic Church’s opposition to gay marriage but then said, “”We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety.” Catholic News Service
The United Nations heavily criticized the Vatican on Wednesday for what it said was a systematic adoption of policies allowing priests to rape and sexually abuse tens of thousands of children. NBC News
The Archdiocese of Chicago took steps to hide sexual abuse by serial abusers for decades, documents released today show. The archdiocese promoted and moved priests with multiple accusations against them and had victims making the allegations investigated. The Chicago Sun-Times
Former popes John Paul II and John XXIII are to be declared saints on April 27, 2014, Pope Francis has announced. Pope Benedict XVI bypassed the normal 5-year waiting period when he began the process to canonize his predecessor. read more at cnn live
Pope Francis urged princes, presidents, sheiks and thousands of ordinary people gathered for his installation Mass on Tuesday to protect the environment, the weakest and the poorest, mapping out a clear focus of his priorities as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. The Argentine native is the first pope from Latin America and the…
New POPE! White Smoke! Habemus Papem! Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio of Argentina, He will be called Pope Francis I. White Smoke Emerges from Sistine Chapel Chimney, New Pope Chosen 2:06 PM EST. Now awaiting the new pope LIVE NEWS STREAM
Pope Addresses Thousands In Final General Audience Pope Benedict XVI has made his final address to a general audience in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican before his resignation on Thursday. He told the crowd of thousands it was a heavy burden when he took up the papacy in April 2005 but he had been…
Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, is stepping down as leader of the Scottish Catholic Church. It follows allegations – which he contests – of inappropriate behaviour towards priests dating from the 1980s. In a statement, he apologised to those he had offended during his ministry. The cardinal confirmed he would not…
Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday he will resign on February 28 as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, saying he no longer has the strength to carry out his duties. NBC News
