Pope Francis

Pope Francis stresses Church’s commitment to stop abuse of nuns by priests

Pope Francis, whose papacy has been marked by efforts to quell a global crisis over sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, said on Tuesday he was committed to stopping…

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Pope Francis holds historic mass for Catholics in first papal visit to Gulf

Pope Francis held a historic public mass for an estimated 170,000 Catholics at an Abu Dhabi stadium on Tuesday on the first ever papal visit to the Gulf region. The…

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Christians in Arabian peninsula welcomes first Pope’s visit to UAE

Pope Francis has arrived in the United Arab Emirates for the first ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian peninsula. He landed in Abu Dhabi where he was greeted…

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Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday as he landed in the UAE. His arrival took place just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation…

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Abortion undermines justice – Pope Francis

"Ahead of tomorrow’s Day for Life, I take this opportunity to appeal to all politicians, regardless of their faith convictions, to treat the defense of the lives of those who…

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Pope Francis to become first Pope to set foot on Arabian Peninsula as he visits UAE

Pope Francis is hoping to persuade a country enmeshed in a regional war that he has condemned to give Catholics more freedom when he becomes the first pontiff to set…

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Fear makes us crazy says Pope Francis as he arrives in Panama – He announces visits to Iraq and Japan

There were those who had waited at the airport all day. And it was hot (33°C not counting the horrendous humidity). There were those who had practiced their dance routines…

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Abuse saga is being used by elements within the church against Pope Francis – Cardinal Kasper

There are people who simply do not love this Pope. They want that this pontificate ends as soon as possible to have, so to speak, a new conclave. They also…

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Pope Francis wishes for fraternity among individuals, regardless of nation, culture, ideology, or religion in ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message and blessing

Pope Francis’ revealed his “wish for a happy Christmas” as a “wish for fraternity” during his Christmas Urbi et Orbi message. To those physically present in St Peter’s Square and…

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Christmas should make us reflect on meaning of life – Pope Francis

Pope Francis has called on people in developed countries to live a simpler and less materialistic life. He also condemned the huge divide between the world's rich and poor, saying Jesus's…

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Pope Francis joins 1,500 poor people and a group of volunteers for lunch to mark the World Day of the Poor

Pope Francis on Sunday joined about 1,500 poor people and a group of volunteers for lunch to mark the World Day of the Poor. After Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, during which he…

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Pope Francis receives invite for North Korean visit

Pope Francis on Thursday received an invitation to visit North Korea and the pontiff indicated he would consider making what would be a landmark trip to a nation known for…

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Friday Morning Briefing

Good morning, In the last hours, there were significant changes from the US administration, in their view on the Khashoggi's murder with President Trump affirming that he believes that Khashoggi…

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The ‘other’ five Saints canonised today

While much attention at Sunday’s canonization was focused on Paul VI and Oscar Romero, another five people were recognized saints by Pope Francis Their biographies follow: Francesco Spinelli Blessed Francesco…

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The politics and the martyrdom of Archbishop Romero’s path to sainthood

Romero was born in 1917 in a small coffee-growing town in Honduras, the second of eight brothers. As a boy, he apprenticed as a carpenter before entering the seminary and…

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Friday Malta News Evening Roundup

Good evening, Artificial Intelligence, salaries in Malta, Malta Employers Association's budget proposals, Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder court case and an encounter between Pope Francis and the Maltese Archbishop are the…

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Pope Francis compares abortion to hiring hitman to solve a problem

Pope Francis compared abortion to hiring a "hitman to solve a problem" during his weekly general audience Wednesday in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. "But how can an act…

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Wednesday Morning Briefing

Good morning, The heated debate in the Maltese parliament following the story on La Repubblica as part of the Daphne Project, the arrest of a suspected person in the murder of…

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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un invited Pope Francis to visit Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has invited Pope Francis to visit Pyongyang in a gesture designed to highlight peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's presidential office said Tuesday.…

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Pope Francis defends China’s deal

Pope Francis defended on Tuesday a landmark deal between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops, saying he, not the Beijing government, would have the final say on…

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Monday Morning Briefing

Good morning, Your morning briefing brings you the latest headlines, a review of today's Maltese newspaper front pages and an over-all round up of what happened in the past hours.…

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Pope Francis appeals against the growing anti-semitism

In his “Angelus” message at the end of the Mass at Santakos Park in Kaunas, Pope Francis urged Lithuanians to fight the ungodly temptation of dominating others with the antidote…

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Pope Francis starts Baltic visit

Pope Francis kicks off a Baltic tour in Catholic Lithuania on Saturday where he will honour victims of the region's Nazi and Soviet occupations as the Church reels from fresh…

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Bono speaks of Pope’s sincere pain for abuse in Ireland

U2 frontman Bono has described Pope Francis as being "aghast" about sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The Irish singer met privately with Francis on Wednesday at the Vatican hotel…

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Pope Francis appealed to all parties to defend human rights and safeguard civilians in Syria

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed to all parties who have influence in Syria to defend human rights and safeguard the civilian population in the rebel-held northern region of Idlib, which…

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Pope Francis lamented Wednesday how Irish church authorities failed to respond to sex abuse crimes

Pope Francis lamented Wednesday how Irish church authorities failed to respond to the crimes of sexual abuse, speaking during his first public appearance at the Vatican after bombshell accusations that…

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The politics behind Vigano’s letter against the Pope (NYT)

At 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò showed up at the Rome apartment of a conservative Vatican reporter with a simple clerical collar, a Rocky Mountains baseball cap…

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Monday Morning Briefing

Good morning The update about Jacksonville's fatal shooting, Trump's reaction on McCain's death, the Maltese newspapers' front pages, North Korea's reaction to the cancellation of this week's follow up meeting…

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Former papal ambassador claims Pope knew of child abuse by ex-Cardinal McCarrick and hid it. Invites him to resign.

A former papal ambassador to the U.S. has claimed that Pope Francis knew as early as 2013 about charges that the former archbishop of Washington, ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, had been…

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Pope begs for God’s forgiveness and celebrates the ‘family’

The Pope has begged for God's forgiveness for the "open wound" of church abuse in Ireland as he called for "firm and decisive" action to secure "truth and justice". The Irish…

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The Update – Pope Francis visits Ireland

AP: The Vatican says Pope Francis has met with eight survivors of clerical and institutional abuse on the first day of his trip to Ireland, which is ground zero for…

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Mixed feelings await Pope Francis in Ireland

The Guardian reports that Pope Francis will touch down at Dublin airport on Saturday morning for a 36-hour trip to a country whose national identity was once steeped in conservative…

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Pope Francis expresses his pain and sorrow after the sex abuse scandal which hit church in the US

Pope Francis has issued a letter to Catholics around the world condemning the “crime” of priestly sexual abuse and cover-up and demanding accountability, in response to new revelations in the…

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Don’t do drugs to escape reality – Pope Francis

Vatican News/Rome Reports/TgCom: In a reflection at a Saturday evening prayer vigil for over 70,000 pilgrims from all over Italy, Pope Francis invites young people to be daring in their journey…

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Insight: The political implications of the change of the Church’s position on Death Penalty

Based on reports from CNN and the Catholic News and Catholic News Agency The Vatican changed on Thursday the Catechism of the Catholic Church's teaching on the permissibility of the…

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Breaking News: Pope Francis announces important change in Church teachings (Updated)

AP: Pope Francis has changed the Catholic Church teachings on death penalty. In an announcement he said that the death penalty is always inadmissible as it goes against human dignity.…

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Greek Prime Minister Tsipras declared 3 days of national mourning as at least 79 were killed in the forest fires near Athens (UPDATED)

AP: Rescue crews were searching Wednesday through charred homes and cars for those still missing after the deadliest wildfires to hit Greece in decades decimated seaside areas near Athens, killing at…

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Indifference kills, and we desire to lift up our voices in opposition to this murderous indifference – Pope Francis

The Local: "The Middle East has become a land of people who leave their own lands behind,” Pope Francis said. Pope Francis on Saturday voiced concern that Christians will disappear from…

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Pope Francis invites 250 poor for lunch

Pope Francis celebrated Sts Peter and Paul feast doing what he loves doing best. His freshly-minted Cardinal-Almoner Krajewski asked by Pope Francis to invite 250 of Rome’s poor to have…

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Defend the dignity of the poor – Pope Francis to new cardinals

AP: Pope Francis gave the Catholic Church 14 new cardinals Thursday, exhorting them to resist any temptation toward haughtiness and instead embrace “the greatest promotion” they could hope to obtain: tending…

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Saturday Morning Briefing

Good morning, History repeats itself as a second vessel is rejected from docking – just days after the Aquarius was stranded for a week. This issue is the dominant story…

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Pope Francis meeting the world’s largest ecumenical community of Protestant and Orthodox churches

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis will seek deeper relations between the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths on Thursday while meeting the world's largest ecumenical community of Protestant…

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Pope Francis criticised Trump’s administration policy of separating migrant families – “Populism is not the solution”.

Pope Francis has criticised the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant families at the Mexican border, saying populism is not the answer to the world’s immigration problems. In an exclusive…

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Corporate Dispatch Sunday’s Morning Briefing

Good morning, Our Sunday Morning Brief takes you around the globe. Wishing you a good day. Thanks for joining. Jesmond Saliba Managing Editor Amongst various stories, the Maltese stories…

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‘Abortion of sick children is a Nazi technique but done using white gloves’ Pope Francis

Vatican City: A world guided by self-centred logic has lost the sense of stable bonds. This makes it difficult to understand the value of the family. Civil institutions should rather…

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Wednesday’s Morning Briefing

Good morning, From Malta to Singapore, via UK; the Aquarius issue; the diplomatic rifts between Malta, Italy and France (so far), the USA-North Korea summit are some of the things…

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Pope Francis hopes Singapore summit will lead to Peace

Reuters - Pope Francis said on Sunday he hoped a forthcoming summit in Singapore between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will lead to peace…

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Pope Francis says oil companies should convert to clean fuel

Meeting the energy needs of everyone on Earth, must be done in ways that avoid creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution gravely harmful to our human family, both…

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Morning Briefing – 1st June ’18

Good morning, Unfortunately today’s morning briefing starts on a sad note as all media portals in Malta report the news of a male cyclist who was killed after he was…

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Pope Francis denounces culture of abuse and coverup in the Catholic Church

The Guardian reports that through comments made in a pastoral letter to the Chilean faithful on the eve of another weekend he will spend listening to victims of Chile's 'most…

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Pope Francis sends Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Father Jordi Bertomeu on a new mission in Chile

Pope Francis is sending his two top sexual abuse investigators back to Chile to gather more information about the crisis that has hit the Catholic Church there, the Vatican said…

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Pope Francis announces the appointment of 14 new cardinals, aimed to reflect the universality of the Catholic church

Speaking to pilgrims and visitors gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday for the recitation of the Regina Caeli prayer, the Pope announced he would create 14 new cardinals at…

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Pope Paul VI and Bishop Romero to be canonised

Pope Paul VI and Msgr. Oscar Arnulfo Romero will be canonised in St. Peter's Square next October 14, during the Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people. Pope Francis said this…

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All Chilean Bishops offer resignation to Vatican

All of Chile's 34 Roman Catholic bishops have offered Pope Francis their resignations in the wake of a child sex scandal and cover-up. They asked forgiveness from victims and the…

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We have to make young people ‘land’ in the real world. – Pope Francis

Pope Francis said he is worried that youth are too enmeshed in a virtual world of cell phones and other technology, separated, in particular, from the real human contact experienced…

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I invite communications professionals to promote a journalism of peace at the service of all people, especially those without a voice. Pope Francis on World Communications Day

The Catholic Church today marks its World Communications Day. The annual day was established by Pope Paul VI in 1967 to encourage Catholics to reflect on the opportunities and challenges…

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On health care: What are our limits, who should enforce them?

Rome Reports covers the fourth edition of the Unite To Cure Conference, which joins health care professionals from around the world for discussions on the future of medicine. Throughout the three-day…

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