Latest Pope Francis News
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...
Pope Francis presides over ceremony for new cardinals with wide bruise on his chin
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis was seen with a significant bruise on his chin Saturday, but presided over a ceremony to install new cardinals without apparent problems. A Vatican spokesman said later Saturday that the bruise was caused by a contusion on Friday morning, when...
Pope Francis discusses Ukraine with Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Vatican on Wednesday and discussed with him the war in Ukraine, focusing on the humanitarian situation and efforts to promote peace in the region. Francis also discussed other themes with Orban,...
Venezuelan migrants keep arriving in Colombia. These faith leaders offer them a home away from home
PALMIRA, Colombia (AP) — It’s been three years since Douarleyka Velásquez abandoned her career in human resources. Her new job is not what she had planned for, but still feels rewarding. As a cleaning supervisor at a migrant shelter in Colombia, she gets to comfort Venezuelans who, just like...
'AI Jesus' avatar tests man's faith in machines and the divine
LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — Would you trust an “AI Jesus” with your innermost thoughts and troubles? Researchers and religious leaders on Wednesday released findings from a two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland, where an avatar of “Jesus” on...
Pope hopes to visit Turkey in 2025 to mark 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis said on Thursday that he hopes to travel to Turkey next year to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council. The visit to Nicaea, today located in İznik on a lake southeast of Istanbul, would come...
