CNA—Benedict XVI addressed conspiracy theories about his resignation as pope, Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq, and Joe Biden in an interview with an Italian newspaper published on Monday. The pope emeritus told Corriere della Sera that he stood by his decision despite criticism from his friends in an interview released on March 1, a day…
CNA—When Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako turns 80 on Feb. 27, the cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave will drop to 127, seven more than the limit of 120 set by Paul VI and confirmed by John Paul II. In 2021, five more cardinals will turn 80, and thus age out of voting in the…
In October next year an assembly of the Synod of Bishops will convene at the Vatican to discuss the whys and hows of a “synodal” Church. Although a synod on synods may at first sound excruciatingly dull, the bishops will be weighing a matter with huge implications for the future of Catholicism. Before proceeding too…
Vatican News—With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” beginning on the Feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December…
Pope Francis advanced Tuesday the sainthood causes of several men and women, including two Italian priests of the 20th century — one who was ordained at age 23 and another who was ordained at 65, after a lay career and a lifetime of serving the poor. Venerable Fr. Mario Ciceri knew his vocation from a…
CNA—The Vatican’s report on Theodore McCarrick released Tuesday includes a letter written by an American cardinal in 1999, who objected to McCarrick’s potential appointment to higher office, on the basis of existing allegations of misconduct, including incidents involving sharing a bed with seminarians at a New Jersey beach house. On Oct. 28, 1999, Cardinal John…
CNS—In a move apparently related to Vatican financial scandals, Pope Francis accepted Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s resignation as prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes and his renunciation of the rights associated with being a cardinal, the Vatican announced late Sept. 24. The cardinal, 72, told reporters Sept. 25 that Pope Francis told him he was…
CNA—New details have emerged about the links between the two Italian businessmen at the center of the Vatican financial scandal. In the months before Gianluigi Torzi was asked by the Holy See to act as middle man for the final purchase of the London property at 60 Sloane Ave. from Raffaele Mincione, a company owned…
Pope Francis has approved the inclusion of three additional invocations in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Litany of Loreto. In a June 20 letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences, Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Liturgy and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said the invocations…
CNA—The Holy See press office announced Friday that Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi has been arrested after he was interrogated as part of a Vatican financial investigation. Torzi played a crucial role in the controversial purchase of a London property development by the Secretariat of State. “Today the Office of the Promoter of Justice of the…
CNA—Modern society is formulating an “anti-Christian creed” and punishing those who resist it with “social excommunication,” Benedict XVI has said in a new biography, published in Germany May 4. In a wide-ranging interview at the end of the 1,184-page book, written by German author Peter Seewald, the pope emeritus said the greatest threat facing the…
Breitbart, Crux—Both China and Taiwan have donated masks and medical supplies to the Vatican in recent days but while the Vatican thanked China publicly it has kept silent over Taiwan’s generosity. As Breitbart News reported, on April 9 the Vatican issued a glowing public statement thanking the People’s Republic of China for donations of medical…
Vatican News, CNA, CBJ—Catholics around the world are invited to pray virtually before the Shroud of Turin on Holy Saturday, as the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. This rare public showing begins at 5pm local time (Turin, Italy) on April 11, 2020. It will be broadcast live on television and live-streamed on social…
In case you missed it live, it seems that they are repeating the Rosary on the VATICAN NEWS YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV3WlGr0nTw Useful resources: Rosary Mysteries of the Light: https://www.marian.org/mary/rosary/luminous.php Rosary in Italian: https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=3297 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH JOIN POPE FRANCIS AND OTHERS WORLDWIDE TO PRAY ROSARY FOR END TO CORONAVIRUS,…
CNA—Vatican authorities have seized documents and computers belonging to a senior curial official as part of an investigation into financial misconduct, the Holy See announced on Tuesday. In a statement issued Feb. 18, the Vatican press office confirmed that investigators had raided the office and home of Msgr. Alberto Perlasca (featured image), the former head…
There is a lot of confusion about the nature and scope of the charism of the Pope’s infallibility. Many Catholics with average religious instruction think the Sovereign Pontiff is infallible in everything he says or does. However, this is not what Catholic doctrine affirms. Two Different Concepts That Are Often Confused Thus, most Catholics confuse…
According to a Wall Street Journal exposé series by Francis X. Rocca, not only does the Vatican use donations for the poor to plug its budget deficit, but only 10% of donations to the Vatican’s Peter’s Pence collection go to charitable works. Although sources of information are not always named and generic resources such as…
The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region is scheduled to meet in Rome from 6 to 27 October 2019. It is an important synod for reasons that extend far beyond the Pan-Amazon region, and Catholic business leaders should at least be aware of some key issues.—ed. “We have a window of opportunity before us…
CNA—As three airliners smashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, at the time the director of the Vatican press office, delivered the news to Pope John Paul II. “I remember that terrible afternoon as if it were yesterday.…
