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Catholic Church in France

Pope Francis meets with members of the Pontifical Academy for Life on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican on France’s abortion amendment: There cannot be a ‘right’ to take a human life

Mar 5, 2024

“The Pontifical Academy for Life reiterates that precisely in the era of universal human rights, there cannot be a ‘right’ to take a human life,” the academy wrote.

An attendee prays the rosary during a demonstration called by the association “La Marche pour la vie” against abortion and euthanasia in Versailles, southwest of Paris, on March 4, 2024. | Credit: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images

French Bishops Call for Fasting and Prayer as France Enshrines Abortion in Constitution 

Mar 4, 2024

The French National Assembly in January voted to introduce a “right to abortion” in the French Constitution..

Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Rouen, France. | Credit: Archdiocese of Rouen

Altar Vandalized, Sacred Vessels Stolen from Sacred Heart Basilica in France

Nov 17, 2023

During the night of Nov. 14–15, unidentified persons destroyed the altar and stole sacred vessels from the Sacred Heart Basilica in the Archdiocese of Rouen.

Pope Francis speaks at the closing session of the Mediterranean Encounter in Marseille, France, on Sept. 23, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis: Migrant Crisis Requires Wisdom, not "alarmist propaganda"

Sep 23, 2023

Pope Francis on Saturday told an interreligious youth conference in Marseille, France, that the deepening migrant crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean is “a reality of our times” that calls for wisdom and a collaborative response from European nations, not “alarmist propaganda."

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for an estimated 50,000 people at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, the last stop in his Sept. 22-23, 2023 visit to the port city to speak at an ecumenical meeting of young people and bishops called the “Rencontres Mediterraneennes,” or Mediterranean Encounter. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis: Be Christians Who "leap for joy" in the Face of Life

Sep 23, 2023

Pope Francis told those gathered Saturday at a Mass in Marseille, France, to be Christians who “leap for joy” in the face of life’s challenges — with hearts ready to encounter the Lord and others.

Pope Francis speaks at the general audience on Aug. 23, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: People — not machines — are the Value of Work

Aug 29, 2023

Pope Francis told a group of entrepreneurs this week that work’s greatest value comes from human beings, not from machines.

People look at burning tyres blocking a street in Bordeaux in south-western France on June 29, 2023, during riots and incidents nationwide after the killing of a 17-year-old boy by a police officer's gunshot following a refusal to comply in a western suburb of Paris. | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images

Unrest in France: Religious Leaders Call for Dialogue and Calm

Jul 3, 2023

France’s bishops joined other religious leaders over the weekend in responding to the ongoing unrest in their country with a call for peace, dialogue, and a return to calm.

Catholic Clergy in France Set to Carry ID Cards Indicating They're in Good Standing

May 16, 2023

Catholic clergy in France will soon carry a standardized identification card linked to a national database that shows whether they are currently in good standing and can celebrate Mass and hear confessions.

Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas Unveiled at 700th Anniversary of His Canonization

Jan 28, 2023

The skull of St. Thomas Aquinas has arrived at the Dominican Convent of Toulouse, France, and placed in a new reliquary as the order celebrates the 700th anniversary of the saint’s canonization in the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard | YouTube / KTOTV (screenshot)

French Cardinal Confesses to Sexual Abuse

Nov 7, 2022

A French cardinal said on Monday that he had abused a 14-year-old girl several decades ago and was making himself available to authorities.

Blessed Martyrs of Compiègne were guillotined for their faith on July 17, 1794. Photo illustration.

Pope Francis Opens Special Process to Canonize 16 Carmelite Martyrs of French Revolution

Feb 25, 2022

At the request of the bishops of France and the Order of Carmelites Discalced (OCD), Pope Francis agreed on Feb. 22 to open a special process known in the Catholic Church as “equipollent canonization” to raise the 16 Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne to the altars.

Pope Francis met with members of Voir Ensemble, a Christian movement of blind and visually impaired people on Feb. 19, 2022. Vatican Media

Pope Francis Meets Christian Movement of Blind and Visually Impaired People

Feb 19, 2022

The French association, Voir Ensemble (Seeing Together), was founded in 1927 by Father Yves Mollat, a blind Jesuit priest.

Pope Francis meets with Diakonia of Beauty, a group dedicated to celebrating sacred art, on Feb. 17, 2022. Vatican Media.

"The world needs beauty more than ever": Pope Francis

Feb 17, 2022

The pope met with a French Catholic group dedicated to supporting artists and celebrating sacred art, architecture, poetry, and music.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. Célian de La Rochefoucauld via youheritage.com.

Pilgrims Couldn’t Visit Lourdes. So a Drone Photographer Took Lourdes to Them

Feb 11, 2022

How a young French Catholic overcame the limits of the coronavirus lockdown.

Pope Francis meets a delegation of the French Catholic Action movement at the Vatican, Jan. 13, 2021. Vatican Media.

Synodality Not a "search for majority consensus": Pope Francis

Jan 13, 2022

The pope was speaking to French Catholic Action groups.

Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris. Ibex73 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Archbishop of Paris in France Asks Pope Francis to Decide His Future

Nov 26, 2021

Archbishop Michel Aupetit has denied a report concerning his contacts with a woman in 2012.

French bishops’ conference president Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort kneels in a sign of penance at Lourdes, Nov. 6, 2021. Valentine Chapuis/AFP via Getty Images.

French Catholic Bishops Announce "vast program of renewal" after Abuse Report

Nov 8, 2021

The bishops knelt in an act of penance in Lourdes.

Pope Francis meets with a group of French bishops on their ad limina visit to Rome, Oct. 1, 2021. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis Urges French Catholic Bishops to Console Victims in Wake of Abuse Report

Nov 5, 2021

The bishops are currently meeting in Lourdes.

Pope Francis prays with French bishops before his general audience, Oct. 6, 2021, in the wake of a devastating abuse report. Vatican Media.

"This is a moment of shame": Pope Francis Expresses Sorrow at French Abuse Report

Oct 6, 2021

The report estimated that 216,000 children were abused by priests and religious over 70 years.