Dec 25, 2023 | Pope Francis renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East in his traditional Christmas message from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, denouncing the role of the arms trade in fomenting violence around the world.
The Pope, 87, who suffers from pain in his hip and knee, and at times seemed short of breath, delivered his Christmas message for the first time sitting down. He makes frequent use of a wheel-chair, walks with a stick and often delegates the leading role in religious ceremonies to colleagues.
Francis said he embraced the peoples of Israel and the Occupied Territories, and in particular the Christian community of Gaza, while members of the crowd waved around 20 Palestinian flags.
THE GUARDIAN: The Catholic church made my young queer life hell. Now they accept and damn my union in one breath
Matt Cain (left) with his husband on their wedding day. Photograph: Joseph Scanlon Photography
On the day I celebrated the first anniversary of my wedding, Pope Francis announced his “conditional approval” for Catholic priests to bless same-sex marriages – under certain circumstances – although he was keen to add that these blessings should not be seen as validation of same-sex relationships. “It will be possible to bless same-sex couples but without any type of ritualisation or offering the impression of a marriage,” the Church announced in a report published on Vatican News, adding that “the blessing does not signify approval of the union”. In the eyes of the Catholic church, it seems, queer love is still a sin.
Well, you can stick your blessing, Pope Francis. It’s a fig leaf, a PR exercise, a means of laundering your prejudice to make it seem like a step towards acceptance.
I was brought up Catholic, went to Catholic schools and mass every Sunday, and served as an altar boy for years. From an early age I also knew I was gay. But some of my teachers made me believe that being gay was wrong. When the other kids called me “poof”, “pansy” and “queer”, it didn’t occur to me to report them to a teacher. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to my sin. It was my own fault I was being bullied. I was consumed by guilt. » | Matt Cain | Tuesday, December 19, 2023
NEW YORK POST: ROME — Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.
The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October.
In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.
The new document repeats that rationale and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman.
And it stresses that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding. » | Associated Press | December 18, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Word of the action against Cardinal Raymond Burke came after the prelate’s increasingly pointed critiques of the reform-minded pope.
Cardinal Raymond Burke has been Pope Francis’ leading critic from the traditionalist wing of the Catholic Church. | Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
Almost as soon as Pope Francis became the head of the Roman Catholic church in 2013, Raymond Burke, an American cardinal, emerged as his leading critic from within the church, becoming a de facto antipope for frustrated traditionalists who believed Francis was diluting doctrine.
Francis frequently demoted and stripped the American cleric of influence, but this month, the pope apparently finally had enough, according to one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Francis told a meeting of high-ranking Vatican officials that he intended to throw the cardinal out of his Vatican-subsidized apartment and deprive him of his salary as a retired cardinal.
The news of the possible eviction was first reported by the conservative Italian newspaper La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, which is close to Cardinal Burke and recently sponsored a conference featuring the prelate criticizing a major meeting of bishops convened by Francis. The newspaper’s report comes only weeks after Francis removed another vocal conservative critic, Joseph Strickland, the bishop of Tyler, Texas, after a Vatican investigation into the governance of his diocese. » | Jason Horowitz and Ruth Graham | Jason Horowitz reported from Vatican City, and Ruth Graham from Dallas.| Tuesday, November 28, 2023
GUARDIAN EUROPE: Conservative cardinals had challenged the pope to confirm teachings on LGBTQ+ issues
Pope Francis appears to have reversed the Vatican’s position on the blessing of same-sex marriages by suggesting they could be possible in a note to conservative bishops. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of a big meeting where LGBTQ+ Catholics are on the agenda.
The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on 11 July after receiving a list of five questions, or dubia, from them a day earlier. In it, Francis suggests that such blessings could be studied if they did not confuse the blessing with sacramental marriage.
New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the letter “significantly advances” efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics welcomed in the church and represented “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back” in their marginalisation. » | Associated Press | Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Sep 23, 2023 | The head of the Catholic Church has urged nations to overcome what he calls a "paralysis of fear" about refugees and migrants. Pope Francis is on a tour in Marseille, in southern France.
There has been a surge in the number of refugees and migrants arriving on Europe's shores in recent weeks.
Al Jazeera's Natasha Butler has this report from Paris, France.
Jun 7, 2023 | Pope Francis is going to the hospital for abdominal surgery, the Vatican said on Wednesday. Francis, who is 86, is to be put under general anesthesia and will be hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli hospital for several days. The Vatican said that the treatment for "recurrent, painful and worsening" intestinal constriction would entail a "laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis." The procedure is conducted by inserting surgical instruments through the abdominal cavity.
"The stay at the health facility will last several days to allow for the normal post-operative course and full functional recovery," it said. Earlier on Wednesday, Pope Francis held an audience in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City and also attended two meetings.
Jun 7, 2023 | Pope Francis will have surgery on his abdomen on Wednesday afternoon at Rome's Gemelli hospital. He is expected to stay in hospital for "several days" to recover from the hernia operation, the Vatican said. The hernia is "causing recurrent, painful and worsening" symptoms, added Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. The 86-year-old has faced a series of health issues in recent years, and uses a cane and a wheelchair due to a persistent knee ailment.
Apr 9, 2023 | Pope Francis has been leading Easter Sunday Mass at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful gathered to attend the celebration. After the Mass, the pontiff gave the traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi." In his Easter message to the world, Pope Francis asked Russians to seek the truth about their country's invasion of Ukraine. He also appealed for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, following recent violence. Pope Francis was recently hospitalized for bronchitis but it didn't stop him from presiding over the Easter Sunday ceremony.
Apr 1, 2023 | Pope Francis has joked that he is "still alive" as he left hospital in Rome after a three-day stay. He was admitted to Gemelli Hospital mid-week with breathing difficulties, and later diagnosed with bronchitis. The Vatican had said he was responding to antibiotics and would be released on Saturday, depending on test results. "I wasn't frightened, I'm still alive," the 86-year-old pontiff told reporters and tearful well wishers outside the hospital before being driven away.
THE GUARDIAN: 7,000 people fill St. Peter’s Basilica after several years of Covid imposed restrictions on attendance
Pope Francis kisses a statue of baby Jesus as he celebrates Christmas Eve ,ass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Photograph: Vatican Media/Reuters
Pope Francis warned in a solemn Christmas Eve Mass that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to “consume even their neighbours”, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine.
Francis, celebrating the 10th Christmas of his pontificate, presided over a capacity crowd of about 7,000 in St. Peter’s Basilica after several years of restricted attendance because of Covid.
About 4,000 other people participated outside in St. Peter’s Square on a relatively warm night.
As was the case for the past several months, a knee ailment prevented Francis from standing for long periods, delegating a cardinal to be the main celebrant at the altar of the largest church in Christendom. » | Reuters | Sunday, December 25, 2022
THE GUARDIAN: Francis said that ethnic minorities in Russia’s army were more cruel to Ukrainians than Christian soldiers
The pope’s comments were swiftly condemned by Russian officials on Monday evening.Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP
Pope Francis has sparked fury in Russia over an interview in which he suggested that non-Christian members of its armed forces showed more cruelty in Ukraine than ethnic Russian soldiers.
In an interview with the Catholic magazine America published Monday, the pope said that soldiers from the Buddhist region of Buryatia and the Muslim-majority Chechnya republic were “the cruellest” while fighting in Ukraine.
“Generally, the cruellest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats and so on,” he said.
Russia has disproportionately relied on ethnic minorities to provide its main fighting force in Ukraine. » | Pjotr Sauer | Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Oct 29, 2015 | A senior Vatican priest, Krzysztof Charamsa, stripped of his post after admitting being in a gay relationship, tells BBC News why he wrote to the Pope criticising the Church over its hypocrisy in banning gay priests.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Benedict’s exit changed expectations that the papacy would always be a lifetime assignment, fueling speculation the current pope has tried to push away.
Pope Francis led Mass for the Congolese community in Rome at the Vatican last week. In an interview published on Monday, Francis dispelled rumors of his resignation. | Remo Casilli/Reuters
ROME — Over the last few weeks, close watchers of the Roman Catholic Church have carefully studied shadows on the Vatican walls for proof that Pope Francis is about to retire.
They pointed at an unexpected move to create new cardinals in August as a sign that Francis, 85, was stacking the college that will pick his successor before an early exit. They read deep into his planned visit to an Italian town with a connection to a medieval pope who called it quits. They saw the pope’s use of a wheelchair and his cancellation of a trip to Africa as evidence of his papacy’s premature ending, despite Vatican explanations about a healing right knee.
But in an interview published on Monday, Francis dispelled the rumors, calling the supposed evidence mere “coincidences” and telling Reuters that the idea of resignation “never entered my mind. For the moment no. For the moment, no. Really.”
The only shadow that seemed real then was the one cast by Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff to retire in nearly 600 years. In doing so, he changed the nature, and perception, of the papacy from a lifetime mission assigned by the Holy Spirit to a more earthly calling, subject to political pressures, health assessments and considerations about the church’s best interests. » | Jason Horowitz | Monday, July 4, 2022
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Francis has raised his voice against “unacceptable armed aggression” without mentioning President Vladimir V. Putin or Russia. Some analysts say that he risks complicating his legacy.
Francis in Vatican City in February. The pope has worked hard to forge a rapprochement between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. | Maurizio Brambatti/EPA, via Shutterstock
ROME — The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Pope Francis broke protocol and went directly to the Russian Embassy in the Holy See to appeal for peace. The next day he spoke to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, offering him spiritual support. As the war intensified, he raised his voice against “unacceptable armed aggression” and the “barbarism of the killing of children.”
“In the name of God,” he declared Sunday, “I ask you: Stop this massacre!”
Whom, though, was Francis asking?
The Pope has studiously avoided naming President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, or even Russia itself, as the aggressor. And while he has said that whoever justifies violence with religious motivations “profanes the name” of God, he has avoided criticism of the war’s chief religious backer and apologist, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Unlike some European nationalists, who have suddenly blanked on Mr. Putin’s name to avoid reminding voters that they belonged to the Russian leader’s fan club, Francis’ motivation stems from his walking a fine line between global conscience, real-world diplomatic player and religious leader responsible for his own flock’s safety. » | Jason Horowitz | Friday, March 18, 2022
THE GUARDIAN: Pontiff says denial of fatherhood and motherhood diminishes people and takes away their humanity
Pope Francis risked the ire of the world’s childless dog and cat owners by suggesting people who substitute pets for children exhibit “a certain selfishness”.
Speaking on parenthood during a general audience at the Vatican, the pontiff lamented that pets “sometimes take the place of children” in society.
“Today … we see a form of selfishness. We see that some people do not want to have a child,” he said. “Sometimes they have one and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”
The practice, said the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, “is a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity”.
Thus, “civilisation grows old without humanity because we lose the richness of fatherhood and motherhood, and it is the country that suffers”, the pontiff said at the Paul VI Hall. » | Agence France-Presse in Vatican City | Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Celebrating a traditional Latin Mass in Clifton, Va., in 2007.Credit...Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The pope placed new restrictions on where the old Latin Mass can be celebrated and who can celebrate it, and will require new permissions from local bishops.
Pope Francis took a significant step toward putting the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgy solidly on the side of modernization on Friday by cracking down on the use of the old Latin Mass, essentially reversing a decision by his conservative predecessor.
The move to restrict the use of an old Latin rite in celebrating Mass dealt a blow to conservatives, who have long complained that the pope is diluting the traditions of the church.
Francis placed new restrictions on where and by whom the traditional Latin Mass can be celebrated and required new permissions from local bishops for its use. » | Jason Horowitz | Friday, July 16, 2021
Pope Francis greeted security guards and well-wishers on his way back to the Vatican after a 10-day hospital stay in Gemelli hospital in Rome for colon surgery.
