Latest Pope Francis News
Pope has a cold and will skip outdoor Sunday prayer ahead of a busy week
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is suffering from a cold and will deliver his Sunday blessing from indoors, the Vatican said, announcing the precautions ahead of a busy Christmas period and launch of the Holy Year that will sorely test Francis' stamina and health. The Vatican cited the...
Vatican advances beatification process for Belgium's king who abdicated rather than approve abortion
ROME (AP) — The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion. The Holy See’s saint-making office on Dec. 17 established a...
For some, the pope's big Holy Year only aggravates housing crisis as overtourism pushes out Romans
When Pope Francis left the Vatican earlier this month for his traditional Christmastime outing downtown, he acknowledged what many Romans have been complaining about for months: That his big plans for a Holy Year had turned their city into a giant construction pit, with traffic-clogging roadworks...
Leap of faith: A few young women in US buck the trends by joining the ranks of Catholic nuns
PALMYRA, Pa. (AP) — It was a radical idea, and for many years she had been resistant. But as Zoey Stapleton, 24, walked down a darkened hiking trail, steps behind her parents, she counted back from three and “took a leap of faith,” revealing to them that she wanted to become a...
White House says Biden will visit Pope Francis, Meloni in final international trip of his presidency
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Italy next month to meet with Pope Francis and top Italian officials for what is expected to be the final international trip of his presidency. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden will also...
Pope in autobiography reveals an apparent bombing plot during his 2021 visit to Iraq
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis turned 88 on Tuesday and marked the occasion with revelations that he almost didn’t make it. According to excerpts of his upcoming autobiography, suicide bombers had planned to attack him during his 2021 visit to Iraq, but were killed before striking. ...
Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France's Corsica awash in expressions of popular piety
AJACCIO, Corsica (AP) — Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society. ...
Pope calls for debt reduction for poorer countries to mark the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday called on wealthy countries and institutions to substantially reduce if not outright cancel debt as a matter of justice on the occasion of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year. In a message for world peace, Francis referred to St. John Paul...
Vatican's keffiyeh Nativity scene raises eyebrows and then disappears — at least until Christmas Eve
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis presided over his weekly general audience Wednesday alongside a Palestinian-crafted Nativity scene that was missing its eyebrow-raising signature element: a keffiyeh-draped manger holding the infant Jesus. The wooden Nativity scene in the...
Pope creates 21 cardinals, many of them reformers in their own right, to carry out his reform plans
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday installed 21 new cardinals, many of whom are key figures in his reform agenda: A Dominican preacher who acted as the spiritual father for Francis' recent gathering of bishops, a Neapolitan “street priest” like himself, and a Peruvian bishop who has...
