Feb 26 Pope Francis sits upright in an armchair as he is treated for double pneumonia, Argentines in Rome pray for his recovery By Nicole Winfield, Trisha Thomas, Silvia Stellacci, Associated Press The Vatican hopes to have information later Wednesday about the results of a CT scan taken Tuesday evening to check on the status of the complex lung infection. Continue reading
Feb 25 Pope’s health crisis sparks prayers from thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square By Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press Thousands of people have gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions. Continue reading
Jan 08 Pope Francis names first woman to head major Vatican office By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis has named the first woman to head a major Vatican office. He is appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to become prefect of the Vatican department responsible for all the church's religious orders. Continue reading
Oct 06 Pope names 21 new cardinals, expanding pool of electors who will one day pick his successor By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor. Continue reading
Sep 29 Wrapping up Belgium visit, Pope doubles down on his views and calls abortion doctors ‘hitmen’ By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis revisited thorny topics of his trip to Belgium during his in-flight press conference coming home, praising Belgium’s late King Baudouin as a “saint” for having abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than sign legislation legalizing abortion. Continue reading
Sep 10 How East Timor’s turnout to see Pope Francis compares with other papal Masses By Associated Press An estimated 600,000 people packed a seaside park in East Timor for Pope Francis' Mass — a figure nearing half of the small Southeast Asian country's population. Continue reading
Aug 31 Catholic diocese sues federal agencies over green card backlog for foreign-born priests By Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press For more than a year, religious organizations have lobbied Congress and the Biden administration to fix a sudden procedural change in how the government processes green cards for religious workers, which threatens the ability of thousands of them to continue to… Continue reading
Aug 28 Pope Francis to visit East Timor as church sex abuse scandals there are met by silence By Niniek Karmini, David Rising, Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis will come face to face with the Timorese faithful on his first trip to the country but so far, there is no indication he will meet with any victims or even mention the abuse directly. Continue reading
May 29 Watch 8:41 Sexual abuse of Native American children at boarding schools exposed in new report By Lisa Desjardins, Jackson Hudgins, Karina Cuevas For 150 years, the United States government sent Native American children to remote boarding schools as part of a systematic effort to seize tribal lands and eradicate culture. Dozens of these schools were run by the Catholic Church or its… Continue watching
May 28 Watch 5:48 Pope apologizes for using slur while discussing opposition to gay men in priesthood By Geoff Bennett, Karina Cuevas Pope Francis issued a rare apology after word broke that he used a derogatory Italian slur referring to gay men while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. The Pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting… Continue watching