Category Archives: Pope Francis

‘Salam, salam, salam’: thousands attend Pope’s mass at Irbil stadium – video

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Thousands of people filled a sports stadium in the northern Kurdish-Iraqi city of Irbil for an open-air mass held by Pope Francis. An estimated 10,000 people erupted in cheers when he arrived and did a lap around the track in his open-sided popemobile, the first and only time he has used it on this trip due to security concerns. During the mass, which was the final event of the Pope’s visit to Iraq, the pontiff declared that the church in the country was ‘alive’.

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Pope Francis gives speech on first papal visit to Iraq – video

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Pope Francis urges Iraq’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put aside animosities and work together for peace during an interfaith meeting on Saturday in the traditional birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, the patriarch of both faiths. The pope met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, spiritual leader of most of the world’s Shia Muslims, and travelled to the ruins of Ur in southern Iraq 

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Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Sistani call for unity at Iraq meeting

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Catholic and Shia leaders strengthen dialogue between their faiths on first ever papal visit to the country

Two of the most influential faith leaders in the world reached across a religious divide on Saturday to promote peace and unity in a historic meeting.

Pope Francis, 84, the head of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, the spiritual leader of most of the world’s Shia Muslims, talked for almost an hour during the first ever papal visit to Iraq, the pontiff’s first trip abroad since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Former pope Benedict says ‘fanatical’ Catholics still won’t believe he’s not the pope

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Pope emeritus says some who are unhappy with successor Pope Francis have refused to believe he willingly stepped down

Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign, calling them “fanatical” and reminding them there is only one pope and it is Francis.

Benedict, now 93, became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member church.

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First papal visit to Iraq to go ahead despite Covid and terrorism concerns

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Visit from Pope Francis will start in Baghdad on Friday and is his first trip abroad in 15 months

Despite the twin threats of Covid-19 and terrorism, the first ever papal visit to Iraq is due to begin on Friday, during which Francis will meet beleaguered Christian communities and one of the world’s most influential Muslim leaders.

For 84-year-old Pope Francis, it will be his first trip abroad for 15 months as the pandemic has curtailed his movements. New Covid restrictions came into effect in Iraq last week, with overnight curfews and a full three-day lockdown at weekends, as daily recorded cases doubled in less than a week.

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Pope Francis expects to remain pontiff until his death

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In a new book, Francis says he expects to die in Rome, not his native Argentina, either as ‘active or emeritus’ pope

Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pontiff, without returning to spend his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled The Health of Popes.

In an interview granted to Argentinian journalist and physician Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope said he thinks about death, but does not fear it.

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‘A door has opened’: Pope Francis appoints first woman to senior synod post

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France’s Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of synod of bishops, is first woman to hold the rank which gives voting rights

Breaking with tradition, Pope Francis has appointed Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first woman to hold the post and have voting rights.

The 52-year-old is one of the two new undersecretaries named to the synod, the body of bishops that studies major questions of doctrine and where she has been a consultant since 2019.

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Jesuit order in Spain apologises for decades of sexual abuse by members

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Society of Jesus admits 81 children and 21 adults were sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927

The Jesuit order in Spain has admitted that 81 children and 21 adults have been sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927, and has apologised for the “painful, shameful and sorrowful” crimes.

In a report released on Thursday, the Society of Jesus, whose members often work as teachers, said most of the abuse had taken place in schools “or was related to schools”.

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Pope’s adviser says Covid has highlighted ‘existential’ climate risk

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Focus must be on justice for those fleeing impact of extreme weather events, says new scientific adviser to Vatican

The pope’s newly appointed scientific adviser said the coronavirus pandemic has forced world leaders to face up to the “existential risk” of the climate crisis.

Prof Ottmar Edenhofer said rich countries now had a moral duty to compensate poor countries already suffering the impacts.

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Pope condemns travelling abroad to escape coronavirus lockdowns

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Pontiff uses video address to urge public to ‘take care of each other’

Pope Francis has condemned people who had gone abroad on holiday to escape coronavirus lockdowns, saying they needed to show greater awareness of the suffering of others.

Speaking after his weekly noon blessing, Francis said he had read newspaper reports of people catching flights to flee government curbs and seek fun elsewhere.

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Coronavirus global report: Christmas curtailed as UK arrivals face tougher measures

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Pope addresses fewer than 200 people in St Peter’s; China and US take action against UK amid concerns about new variant; South Korea reports daily case record

The coronavirus pandemic cast a pall over Christmas celebrations worldwide, with the pope holding a reduced St Peter’s mass, and further restrictions imposed on arrivals from the UK and South Africa amid concerns about potentially more transmissible variants of the virus.

China said it would halt UK flight arrivals indefinitely, deciding to follow the example of dozens of countries that introduced bans this week following the emergence of a new mutation in the virus. There are currently eight weekly flights between mainland China and Britain, including two by British Airways.

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Pope says for first time that China’s Uighurs are ‘persecuted’

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Francis mentions plight of Muslim minority in China, alongside Rohingya and Yazidi, in new book

Pope Francis has for the first time called China’s Muslim Uighurs a “persecuted” people, something human rights activists have been urging him to do for years.

In the wide-ranging book Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better Future, he said: “I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi” in a section where he also talks about persecuted Christians in Islamic countries.

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Pope says anti-maskers stuck in ‘their own little world of interests’

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Francis contrasts opposition to Covid measures with ‘healthy indignation’ over racism

Pope Francis has taken aim at protests against coronavirus restrictions, contrasting them with the “healthy indignation” seen in demonstrations against racism after the death of George Floyd.

“Some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions – as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom,” he said in a new book.

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Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden’s faith will shape his presidency

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President-elect of the US says his belief in equality is rooted in his ‘cultural Catholicism’

He carries a rosary in his pocket, one that belonged to his dead son, Beau. On election day last Tuesday, he went to mass, as he does every Sunday.

In his victory speech on Saturday night, he quoted from Ecclesiastes: “The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season – a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America.”

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Pope Francis backs same-sex civil unions

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Pontiff’s endorsement likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in Catholic church

Pope Francis has given his most explicit support to same-sex civil unions in a move that is likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in the Catholic church.

His comments came in an interview in a documentary film, Francesco, which premiered at the Rome film festival on Wednesday.

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Beatified millennial: Pope sets late tech whiz on path to sainthood

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Carlo Acutis helped spread Catholic teaching online before his death aged 15 in 2006

Pope Francis said the beatification of an Italian computer whiz-kid was a sign to young people that “true happiness comes from putting God first”.

Carlo Acutis, who is on a path to sainthood after being beatified in the Umbrian town of Assisi, helped spread Roman Catholic teaching online before his death from leukaemia aged 15 in 2006. He is the youngest contemporary person to be beatified.

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Mexico asks Pope Francis for apology for church’s role in Spanish conquest

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Mexico’s president says the Vatican should apologise for ‘reprehensible atrocities’ in colonisation 500 years ago

Mexico’s president has written to Pope Francis to ask for an apology for the Catholic church’s role in the oppression of indigenous people in the Spanish conquest 500 years ago.

The request was made in a two-page letter that also asked the Vatican to temporarily return several ancient indigenous manuscripts held in its library, ahead of next year’s 500-year anniversary of the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

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Vatican official accuses Trump administration of exploiting pope

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Pope Francis reportedly declined to meet Mike Pompeo during his visit this week, citing closeness of US presidential election

A top Vatican official has accused Donald Trump’s administration of exploiting Pope Francis in the final stages of the US presidential election campaign.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, spoke at a conference on religious freedom on Wednesday organised by the US embassy to the Holy See during his visit to Italy.

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Pope Francis: gossip is ‘plague worse than Covid’ – video

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Pope Francis strays from his prepared text to repeat his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy. Francis did not give specifics during his weekly blessing, but went on at some length to say the devil is the 'biggest gossiper' who is seeking to divide the church with his lies

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Pope appoints six women to top roles on Vatican council in progressive step

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Former Labour minister Ruth Kelly is among the women who will oversee Vatican finances and address its cashflow problems

Pope Francis has appointed six women to oversee the Vatican’s finances including Ruth Kelly, the former Labour minister, in the most senior roles ever given to women within the Catholic church’s leadership.

The appointments mark the most significant step by Francis to fulfil his promise of placing women in top positions. Until now, the 15-member Council for the Economy was all male. By statute, the council must include eight bishops – who are always men – and seven laypeople.

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