Tag Archives: VATICAN

  Rome, Italy | AFP | Former pope Benedict XVI has publicly urged his successor Pope Francis not to open the Catholic priesthood up to married men, in a plea that Sunday stunned Vatican experts. The ex-pontiff, who retired in 2013, issued the defence of clerical celibacy in a book …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly called on Pope Francis Saturday to open the priesthood to married men in the Amazon, as well as giving women a greater role to play and making damaging the environment a sin. The bishops issued a …

  Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis flies out on Wednesday for a week-long tour visiting three Indian Ocean African countries hard hit by poverty, conflict and natural disaster. The pope will visit Mozambique and Madagascar, as well as Mauritius, countries visited by pope John Paul II …

  Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis said Sunday he was late to his weekly Angelus prayer because he had been stuck in a Vatican elevator and had to be freed by firemen. He followed the tale of his rescue with a surprise announcement about the creation …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Vatican has finally elevated Uganda Martyrs Church, Munyonyo into a minor Basilica for its unique connection with the Uganda Martyrs. The minor Basilica status is granted by a special decree signed by the Pope following a series of processes. Although the processes ended …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | The Vatican will dig up two graves Thursday after an anonymous tip-off that they may contain the remains of an Italian teenager who went missing 36 years ago. Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of Vatican employee, was last seen leaving a music class aged 15, …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Thursday passed a measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, following a global clerical paedophilia scandal. Every diocese in the world will now be obliged to have a system …

Pope hopes for S.Sudan peace as leaders end Vatican retreat Vatican City, Holy See | AFP |  Pope Francis called Thursday for warring South Sudanese factions to respect the latest armistice after a two-day Vatican retreat aimed at shoring up the fragile peace. “I express my heartfelt hope that hostilities …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Chilean Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati, who had agreed to step down along with his country’s bishops over sexual abuse cases and their cover-up, the Vatican said Saturday. Ezzati, archbishop of Santiago, is the seventh senior Chilean church official …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Pope Francis denounced the deceptiveness of “the culture of appearance” in a ceremony marking Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter when Catholics traditionally fast. “Earthly realities fade away like dust in the wind,” said the pope at the Basilica …