CDE News - World News

Divert weapons money to pandemic research, Pope says at prayer marathon

Pope Francis kicked off a month-long marathon of worldwide Roman Catholic prayer on Saturday to ask God for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, and said money spent on armaments…

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Pope removes legal privileges for Vatican cardinals, bishops

(Reuters) - Pope Francis ruled on Friday that bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican will be judged by the same lay tribunal that hears other criminal cases and…

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Pope issues new anti-corruption decree for Vatican managers, including cardinals

Pope Francis, in his latest move to fight corruption in the Vatican, on Thursday issued a new decree mandating full economic disclosure and controls for managers, including cardinals. The decree says…

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Latest Mediterranean migrants tragedy a time for shame, Pope says

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that "now is the time for shame" after 130 migrants were feared dead in the Mediterranean and a U.N. organisation accused…

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In Earth Day message, pope warns that planet is “at the brink”

VATICAN CITY, April 22 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said in his Earth Day message on Thursday that the planet was "at the brink" and humanity had to avoid "the path of self destruction." The pope, who has issued many appeals…

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Lebanon’s Hariri: Pope to visit if government is formed

Pope Francis will visit crisis-hit Lebanon but only once its fractious politicians can agree on a new government, Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said during a visit to the Vatican on…

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Pope calls for lowering of tensions in eastern Ukraine

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, delivering his Sunday address to a live audience for the first time in more than a month, called for a lowering of tensions in…

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Police seek arrest of Italian middleman in Vatican property deal

ROME (Reuters) - Italian magistrates have issued an arrest warrant for Gianluigi Torzi, a financial broker caught up in a scandal involving the Vatican's purchase of a building in an upscale…

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UPDATED: Cut the debt of poor countries, Pope tells IMF, World Bank

Pope Francis has told world financial chiefs that poor countries hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus need to have their debt burden reduced and be given a greater…

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Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic

Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world's poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a…

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Pope Francis leads Easter Mass at the Vatican

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Easter Sunday morning at the Vatican Basilica with a small number of the faithful present. Yet the Pope was joined by countless Catholics around the…

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Christ alive today, always helps begin anew – Pope Francis

Reflecting on the Easter episode of the women at the tomb, the Pope drew attention to what the angel told them. “Wonder at hearing the words: ‘Do not be afraid!”…

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Children’s hope and pains at the centre of Pope’s Via Crucis

The solitude and isolation of men and women across the world, cut off from their families and friends, deprived of their work and livelihoods, living in fear of an uncertain…

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The Cross is the Christological foundation of fraternity – Cantalamessa

Pope Francis lies down in prayer prior to celebrating Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic…

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Pope makes surprise visit to homeless getting COVID-19 vaccine in Vatican

Pope Francis paid a surprise visit on Friday to homeless and poor people from Rome getting free COVID-19 vaccinations in the Vatican. Pictures released by the Vatican showed the 84-year-old…

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Be humble, pope tells priests as he begins services leading to Easter

Pope Francis urged priests to be humble like Jesus as he began three busy days leading to Easter - all scaled down because of the coronavius pandemic - with a…

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Pope meets cardinal he fired, in apparent reconciliation

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Thursday with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, according to the cardinal who was fired by the pontiff last September on accusations of embezzlement and nepotism. Becciu told…

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Photo Story: Chrism Mass at the Vatican

Pope Francis holds up the book of Gospels during a Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, 01 April 2021. During the Mass the Pontiff blesses a token…

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Pope, on Palm Sunday, says devil taking advantage of pandemic

Pope Francis led Palm Sunday services in an almost empty St. Peter's Basilica because of coronavirus restrictions for the second consecutive year and said the devil is taking advantage of the pandemic. In pre-coronavirus times, Palm Sunday, which marks the start of…

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Pope leads scaled-down Palm Sunday service

Pope Francis led Palm Sunday services in an almost empty St. Peter's Basilica because of coronavirus restrictions for the second consecutive year and he urged people to be close to…

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Pope’s Easter vigil brought forward due to COVID curfew

Pope Francis's Easter vigil has been brought forward to 19:30 on Saturday April 3 from its usual time of 21:00 because of the 22:000 COVID-19 curfew. the Vatican said Tuesday.Last…

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Pope orders salary cuts for cardinals, clerics, to save jobs of ordinary employees

Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10 percent pay cut and reduced the salaries of other clerics working in the Vatican in order to save jobs of ordinary…

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Australian police find nothing criminal in Vatican fund transfers

Australian police said on Tuesday that they had found nothing criminal in the transfer of A$9.5 million ($7.3 million) from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020. Financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC…

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Photo Story – Pope Francis reciting the Angelus prayer

Pope Francis reciting the prayer of the Angelus from the window of his study overlooking Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, 14 March 2021. VIA EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI

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In setback for gay Catholics, Vatican says church cannot bless same-sex unions

The Vatican said on Monday that priests cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not valid, in a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics who had hoped their Church was becoming more…

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Pope Francis laments decade of Syria’s destructive civil war

Pope Francis on Sunday joined the Church in the Philippines in commemorating 500 years of Christianity in the Southeast Asian nation. He celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with several…

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Habemus Papam – Eight years of Pope Francis

Vatican News / Rome Reports - On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope. It was at 7:06pm when the white smoke emerged from atop the Sistine Chapel,…

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‘Peace more powerful than war’, Pope Francis says in Iraq’s ruined city of Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Pope Francis heard Muslim and Christian residents in the ruined Iraqi city of Mosul tell of their lives under brutal Islamic State rule on Sunday, blessing…

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Pope Francis met Alan Kurdi’s father

On his last day in Iraq, Pope Francis held a surprise meeting with Abdullah Kurdi, the father of a young refugee child who captured the world’s imagination when his lifeless…

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Pope decries violence in the name of God as ‘greatest blasphemy’

UR, Iraq, March 6 (Reuters) - Pope Francis walked down a narrow alleyway in the holy city of Najav to hold a historic meeting with Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric and…

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Pope Francis meets Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, visits birthplace of Prophet Abraham

UR, Iraq (Reuters) - Pope Francis entered a narrow alleyway in Iraq's holy city of Najaf to hold a historic meeting with the county's top Shi'ite cleric and visited the…

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UPDATE – Pope Francis leaves Rome to start historic pilgrimage in Iraq

ROME, March 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis left Rome on Friday to start a four-day trip to Iraq, his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012 and the first visit by…

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Pope says he must go to Iraq because people cannot be let down

Pope Francis said on Wednesday he is going to Iraq, where his predecessor John Paul was not allowed to go in 2000, because “the people cannot be let down for…

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“There is only one Pope”- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Vatican News / Corriere della Sera - Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s resignation from the papacy, which became effective eight years ago, [28 February 2013] was a “difficult choice,” but made…

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Five injured in Baghdad protest ahead of Pope visit to Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 1 (Reuters) - At least five people were injured on Monday when Iraqi security forces wielding clubs broke up a street protest in Baghdad's central Tahrir Square, security…

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Pope’s risky trip to Iraq defies sceptics

Rockets have hit Iraqi cities and COVID-19 has flared,yet, barring last-minute changes, Pope Francis will embark on a whirlwind four-day trip starting on Friday to show solidarity with the country’s…

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Conservative African cardinal who clashed with pope leaves post

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from a top Vatican post of Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero to many conservatives who often clashed with the pontiff on theological matters. The…

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Watch – Twenty years since Bergoglio became Cardinal

Vatican News Twenty years ago, on 21 February 2001, Pope Saint John Paul II created forty-four new Cardinals – including the then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Vatican News…

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Photo Story: Pope Francis leads Catholics into Lent

Pope Francis led the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics into Lent on Ash Wednesday, as they scaled back a centuries-old ritual to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Francis,…

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Pope urges people to and prays to the Virgin Mary to help children struggling with cancer

Ansa/Vatican News - Pope Francis on Monday, which is the international day against child cancer, tweeted "May the Lord inspire everyone to draw near to those who suffer, especially children,…

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Photo Story – Papal Wind

Pope Francis leads his Sunday Angelus Prayer from his window overlooking Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, on a windy 14 February 2021 Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the…

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Caring for the sick is not an “optional activity” for the Church, but an integral part of her mission – Pope Francis

Vatican News - The healing of St Peter’s mother-in-law is characteristic of Jesus’ miracles of healing, Pope Francis says during his weekly Angelus address. In St Mark’s Gospel, we read…

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Pope appoints woman Under-Secretary at Synod of Bishops

Vatican News - Pope Francis has appointed Sr Nathalie Becquart and Fr Luis Marín de San Martín to be the Under-Secretaries of the Synod of Bishops. Currently headed by Cardinal…

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Carry the Gospel with you every day – Pope Francis

Vatican News - Addressing the faithful on the fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time from the Library of the Apostolic Palace, the Pope reflected on the reading from the Gospel of…

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On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pope warns against new nationalism

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday marked the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by urging people to keep a close watch on ideological…

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Pope Francis won’t preside over celebrations due to sciatica

Vatican News - Pope Francis will not preside at several celebrations on Sunday and Monday, according to a statement released by Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office.…

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Former head of Vatican bank guilty of embezzlement, money laundering

A court in Italy on Thursday convicted Angelo Caloia, a former head of the Vatican bank, on charges of embezzlement and money laundering, making him the highest ranking Vatican official…

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Woman with links to deposed cardinal to go on trial, Vatican says

The embezzlement trial of a woman with links to deposed Cardinal Angelo Becciu will start soon, Vatican judicial officials said on Monday, but it was not yet clear if the cardinal will also be tried. Cecilia Marogna, 39, had worked for Becciu, a…

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Pope Francis, condemns U.S. Capitol assault

Pope Francis said on Saturday people working against democracy must be condemned whoever they are, and lessons should be learned from this week's attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters…

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Pope Francis encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” makes it to Italy’s Vanity Fair front cover

ANSA - Pope Francis has made the cover of the latest number of the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. The cover cites Francis' recent and third encyclical, All Brothers, a…

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Photo Story: Pope Francis celebrates the Epiphany

Pope Francis (L) celebrates Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, in the Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, 06 January 2021. “In our day,…

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Coronavirus forces cancellation of papal baptisms in Sistine Chapel

A traditional ceremony in which Pope Francis baptises newborn babies in the Sistine Chapel has been cancelled this year because of coronavirus restrictions, the Vatican announced. The ceremony, which involves…

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Pope reappears after pain flare-up, calls for peace in New Year message

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis reappeared on Friday after chronic sciatic pain forced him to miss the Church's New Year services, and made no mention of his ailment as…

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Vatican denies knowledge of $1.8 billion transferred to Australia

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican and the Australian Catholic Church have both denied knowledge of transfers worth US$1.8 billion which Australia's financial watchdog says have been sent from Rome…

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After property scandal, Pope tightens money controls

Pope Francis has issued a new decree making charity funds more transparent and tightening controls on Vatican finances after a scandal over a luxury London property deal. The main target is the…

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Pope calls on nations to share vaccines

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Friday said political and business leaders must not allow market forces and patent laws to take priority over making Covid 19 vaccines available to all, condemning…

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Pope urges help for poor at low-key Christmas Eve Mass curbed by COVID

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis celebrated a low-key Christmas Eve Mass made sombre by the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and said people should feel obliged to help the needy…

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