Latest Pope Francis News

Pope, looking strong, washes feet of 12 women at Rome prison from his wheelchair

Mar. 28, 2024 14:04 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 women inmates at a Rome prison during a Holy Thursday ritual meant to emphasize his vocation of service and humility. The 87-year-old Francis performed the ritual from his wheelchair, after recent ailments have compounded...

Pope appears in better health, praises Israeli and Arab fathers who both lost daughters in conflict

Mar. 27, 2024 21:22 PM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis appeared in better health on Wednesday, walking into the Vatican audience hall on his own with a cane for his weekly general audience and delivering his prepared text with a clear voice. The encounter was Francis' first public event since Palm...

Pope Francis skips Palm Sunday homily at start of busy Holy Week that will test his health

Mar. 24, 2024 23:54 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to skip his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, avoiding a strenuous speech at the start of a busy Holy Week that will test his increasingly frail health. Hobbled by bad knees and persistent respiratory...

Belgian bishop defrocked 14 years after admitting to abusing nephew

Mar. 21, 2024 14:20 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday defrocked a notorious Belgian bishop who admitted 14 years ago that he sexually abused his nephew but faced no Vatican punishment. The case of Roger Vangheluwe, the emeritus bishop of Brugge, long ago became a symbol of the Catholic Church’s...

Pope acknowledges criticism and health issues but says in his new memoir he has no plans to retire

Mar. 15, 2024 06:41 AM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he has no plans to resign and isn’t suffering from any health problems that would require doing so, saying in a new memoir he still has “many projects to bring to fruition.” Francis, 87, made the comments in an autobiography, “Life: My...

Patriarch Neophyte, leader of Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church, dies at 78

Mar. 13, 2024 21:15 PM EDT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria, who was the first elected head of the Orthodox Church in the post-communist Balkan country, died at a hospital in Sofia. He was 78. The Orthodox Holy Synod said Wednesday in a statement that the patriarch had been hospitalized...

Virgin of Charity unites all Cubans — Catholics, Santeria followers, exiled and back on the island

Mar. 13, 2024 10:55 AM EDT

EL COBRE, Cuba (AP) — Ramon Nieblas fixed his tearful eyes on the small golden statue, a beloved icon of Cuba’s patron saint. Whispering, he asked the Virgin of Charity of Cobre for a miracle: Please save his sick son. “I came to pray for his health,” said Nieblas, a Cuban...

Today in History: March 13, Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina becomes Pope Francis

Mar. 13, 2024 00:22 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Wednesday, March 13, the 74th day of 2024. There are 293 days left in the year. Today’s highlight in history: On March 13, 2013, Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope, choosing the name Francis. he was the first...

Vatican diplomats seek to defuse outrage over Pope Francis' Ukraine 'white flag' comments

Mar. 12, 2024 08:59 AM EDT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican secretary of state is seeking to defuse outrage over Pope Francis' latest diplomatic foray, insisting in media interviews that a primary condition for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is an end to Russia’s aggression and that any peace must be a “just peace.” ...

Italy abuse case highlights how scandal slowly beginning to come to light in pope's backyard

Mar. 11, 2024 16:00 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — The clergy sexual abuse scandal is slowly gathering steam in Italy with increasing media coverage, criminal convictions and the launch Monday of an investigative podcast dedicated to a case that tangentially involved Pope Francis. A Sicilian court last week convicted a...