Hundreds of Thousands Gather to Witness Mother Teresa Declared a Saint

Hundreds of thousands of people gather in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Sunday to watch as Pope Francis officially announces Mother Teresa as a saint. The ceremony marks the end of a long process of canonisation which began in 1999, two years after her death. Around 1,500 homeless people were given seats of honour at the mass as a testament to her lifelong work with the poor

Clueless! Pope Francis: It's Not Right to Link Islam to Violence

Aug. 01, 2016 - 0:28 - Pope slams Islamophobia

Pope Francis Falls during Mass in Poland

Pope Francis Welcomes Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, One of Sunni Islam’s Top Clerics

Franklin Graham on Islam and the Pope

Listen to Franklin Graham on Islam and the Pope here

Pope Asks Iran to Work for Mideast Peace, Stop Spread of Terrorism

Pope Francis met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican, asking Tehran to help promote peace in the region. Nathan Frandino reports.

Robert Spencer on ISIS' Intent to Conquer Rome and Behead the Pope

I sat down recently with Robert Spencer, author of The Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS, to discuss the terror group's plan for Rome. While the idea of ISIS conquering Rome may sound ridiculous, Quranic Muslims––not just in ISIS-–believe the fall of Rome must take place before the final battle against the infidel armies at Dabiq, Syria and the return of the Mahdi, the Muslim "messiah."

ISIS Threat to POPE: Fears for Holy Father as Terror Nuts Plot 'FINAL MASSACRE' in Rome

Pope Francis, who it is feared may be
next on ISIS's terror hit list

EXPRESS: EVIL Islamic State are plotting to kill POPE FRANCIS, the Vatican fears, after multiple propaganda videos threatening Rome were released by Daesh militants.

The Vatican has admitted it is a target for crazed jihadis due to its religious links. Any attack would send shivers across the globe.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin said recently the Vatican was considering whether to ramp up security.

He said: "The Vatican could be a target because of its religious significance.

"We are capable of increasing the level of security in the Vatican and the surrounding area.

"But we will not let ourselves be paralysed by fear."

Rome has been the subject of a number of threatening terror films released by the extremists in recent weeks.

It is thought the focus on Rome, and specifically the Vatican City, may be in response to the Pope's recent condemnation of the deadly terror attacks in Paris, as well as its status of the capital of the Catholic world. » | Joey Millar | Saturday, December 12, 2015

Francis: The Modest But Radical Pope Who Is Conscience Of His Era

Pope Francis kisses a baby as he arrives to lead a special
audience at the Vatican

THE TELEGRAPH: Ageing Ponitiff overcomes physical challenges to transform the church and focus minds on the essence of Christianity

Pope Francis has an extraordinary week ahead of him. Today, a summit opens in the Vatican to debate the future of the family – and it could be tumultuous. On Friday, the pontiff might win the Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to non-violence and combating poverty.

He is a radical figure, obsessed with getting things done, transforming his church and focusing minds on the essence of Christianity. In two short years, he been transformed into the conscience of his era.

The physical challenge is mighty. The Pope is 78 and surgery conducted when he was young left him with one functioning lung. He has spoken honestly about expecting his tenure to be short. “Four or five years,” he told the press, “even two or three.”

Despite the challenges of age, he has thrown himself into international diplomacy, visiting Albania, Bosnia, Ecuador, the Philippines and Bolivia. Next month, he flies to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. These countries are what he likes to call “the peripheries” – nations that get overlooked by rich foreign leaders.

In September, he spent eight days touring Cuba and the United States. The pairing of these old enemies is significant. As a child of Argentina, birthplace of Che Guevara, he understands the impact on Latin America of US capitalism, Cuban socialism and the violent competition between the two. The recent détente has been credited to Pope Francis – US president Barack Obama thanked him for using his personal influence to bring them together.

When the Pope arrived in Havana, the scenes of joy were astonishing. No one should underestimate the subversive power of popular piety in communist regimes. The cries of “Christ lives!” underscored the sense of change sweeping the island, of the giddy promise of freedom. » | Tim Stanley | Saturday, October 3, 2015

Pope Francis Visits the United Nations | The New York Times

Pope Francis addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, ahead of the official opening of its 70th session.

Pope Francis Speaks Before Congress | The New York Times

Pope Francis Addresses Joint Meeting of Congress

Isil Terrorists Could Infiltrate Europe by Hiding among Refugees, Warns Pope Francis

Pope Francis has warned that Isil terrorists could be hiding among
the tens of thousands of refugees who are entering from war-torn
countries such as Syria and Libya

THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Francis warns of dangers of terrorists slipping into Europe alongside refugees

Pope Francis has warned that Isil terrorists could try to “infiltrate” Europe, hiding among the tens of thousands of refugees and migrants streaming to the continent from war-torn countries such as Syria and Libya.

He said Italy in particular found itself in a vulnerable position, with Isil having established a presence just a few hundred miles south on the desert coastline of Libya.

"It's true, nowadays, territorial security conditions are not the same as they were in other periods (of mass migration)," the Jesuit Pope told a Portuguese radio station in a wide-ranging interview, days before he embarks on a gruelling tour of Cuba and the United States.

"The truth is that just 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true." » | Nick Squires, Rome | Monday, September 14, 2015

Pope Francis Makes It Easier for Catholics to Divorce

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Vatican City: Pope Francis, making the most substantial changes to Catholic marriage annulment procedures in centuries, on Tuesday radically simplified them and said bishops should give greater help to divorced couples.

In a move that again showed his desire for the Church to be more merciful to Catholics in difficulty, Francis reaffirmed traditional teaching on the "indissolubility of marriage", but streamlined annulment procedures many considered cumbersome, lengthy, outdated and expensive.

An annulment, formally known as a "decree of nullity", is a ruling that a marriage was not valid according to Church law because certain prerequisites, such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children, were lacking. » | Reuters | Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Pope Calls on All of Europe’s Catholics to House Refugees

THE NEW YORK TIMES: VIENNA — Pope Francis on Sunday called on every parish, religious community, monastery and sanctuary in Europe to shelter refugees fleeing “death from war and hunger,” adding that the Vatican’s two parishes will lead the way by taking in two families.

In a speech to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, the pope said it was not enough to say “have courage, hang in there” to those marching towards what he described as “life’s hope.”

It was the pontiff’s first direct message to Europe — and the world — about how to embrace and integrate the largest mass migration Europe has seen since the end of World War II. » | Alison Smale | Sunday, September 6, 2015

Pope Francis Poses with 'Dialogue for Malvinas' Sign

THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Francis poses with a propaganda sign calling for "dialogue" between Britain and Argentina

Pope Francis has posed with a propaganda poster backing Argentina's call for dialogue with Britain over the Falkland Islands.

The move risked angering residents of both the Falklands and Britain, which has always considered its sovereignty over the islands beyond question.

The Argentine pontiff, who has previously refused to get involved in the disagreement, was visited at the Vatican by an activist from the "Dialogue for Malvinas" campaign.

The activist presented the Pope with a sign reading: "It's time for Argentina and Britain to discuss the Falklands."

Britain and the Falkland Islanders have long rejected calls for dialogue, with the argument that there is nothing to discuss.

The islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain British in a March 2013 referendum. Read on and comment » | Harriet Alexander | Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Donald Trump to the Pope: 'Isil Wants to Get You'

Donald Trump

THE TELEGRAPH: Billionaire Republican frontrunner says he would like to meet Pope Francis but would not tolerate any criticism of capitalism

Donald Trump says he would not allow the Pope to criticise capitalism if they were to meet face to face, and would scare him into silence by reminding him that violent jihadis of the Islamic State want to invade the Vatican.

It was a typically bombastic Trump moment delivered during a wide-ranging interview in which he took on Hillary Clinton, underlined his views on illegal immigrants and said he would allow women to fight in American special forces. » | Rob Crilly, New York | Thursday, August 20, 2015

Unbridled Capitalism Is the 'Dung of the Devil', Says Pope Francis

Pope Francis makes his speech in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where
he called for the poor to have the "sacred rights" of labor,
lodging and land. 

THE GUARDIAN: The pontiff condemns the impoverishment of developing countries by the world economic order and apologised for the church’s treatment of native Americans

Pope Francis has urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land.

In one of the longest, most passionate and sweeping speeches of his pontificate, the Argentine-born pope used his visit to Bolivia to ask forgiveness for the sins committed by the Roman Catholic church in its treatment of native Americans during what he called the “so-called conquest of America”.

The pontiff also demanded an immediate end to what he called the “genocide” of Christians taking place in the Middle East and beyond, describing it as a third world war. » | Reuters | Thursday, July 9, 2015

Pope Francis Wants to Chew Coca Leaves in Bolivia, Says Minister

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: La Paz: Pope Francis has told the Bolivian government that he would like to chew coca leaves, the key ingredient in cocaine, when he visits the Andean country next month, a Bolivian minister said on State television and radio on Sunday.

Situated at about 3,650 metres above sea level, La Paz is one of the world's highest capital cities and for centuries local people have chewed coca leaves to ward off the effects of altitude.

Although it is the key ingredient in cocaine, the unprocessed leaf is legal to use and still widely chewed in Bolivia and other Andean countries. Many indigenous people, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, defend its use and consider it a sacred plant. » | Reuters | Monday June 29, 2015

Is the Pope a Communist?

BBC AMERICA: Pope Francis's critique of free-market economics has made him an icon for the Left and prompted claims that he is a communist. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics has called capitalism a source of inequality at best - and at worst a killer. Is the Pope, as his critics claim, a red radical?

On his way back from the Victory Day Parade in Moscow last month, the Cuban leader Raul Castro stopped off in Rome to thank Pope Francis for his role in Cuba's rapprochement with the United States. "If the Pope continues this way," Castro said afterwards, "I will go back to praying and go back to the church - I am not joking."

In September Francis will return the compliment with a stop-over in Cuba when he travels to the United States. And the American visit could turn out to be the most difficult overseas trip of his pontificate.

Raul Castro's endorsement is unlikely to recommend Francis to the American right, many of whom responded with visceral rage to President Obama's Cuban initiative.

"There is a lot of scepticism among (US) Catholics," says Stephen Moore, the chief economist at the conservative Washington think tank the Heritage Foundation, and himself a Catholic.

"I think this is a Pope who clearly has some Marxist leanings. It's unquestionable that he has a very vocal scepticism (about) capitalism and free enterprise and… I find that to be very troubling." » | Ed Stourton, BBC News | Sunday, June 07, 2015