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Pope Francis

Pope Francis at the first Mass of the new year, urged the faithful to entrust 2024 to the Mother of God. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Entrust 2024 to the Mother of God 

Jan 1, 2024

The pope made his appeal during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 1 for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Pope Francis smiles at pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on Jan. 1, 2023, for his first Angelus of the new year. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Reflects on Mary’s Motherhood, Prays for Nicaragua During New Year’s Angelus

Jan 1, 2024

Just days after Christmas, Nicaragua’s Sandinista regime abducted four priests, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Pope Francis waves during his Sunday Angelus on Dec. 31, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Says Benedict XVI "blesses us and accompanies us" from Heaven

Dec 31, 2023

In his final Angelus address of 2023, Pope Francis paid tribute to Pope Benedict XVI on the one-year anniversary of his predecessor’s death. 

Pope Francis presides at the annual celebration of “first vespers,” or evening prayer, for the vigil of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Dec. 31, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Faith Allows Christians to Live Transition into the New Year "differently"

Dec 31, 2023

Pope Francis rang in the new year and gave thanks for 2023 at a special New Year’s Eve Vatican liturgy.

Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. | Vatican Media.

What countries did Pope Francis visit in 2023 and what did he say?

Dec 30, 2023

Despite advanced age and health challenges, the pope visited six countries on three continents in 2023.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is greeted by Pope Francis during the Ordinary Public Consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 14, 2015. | Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

‘Benedict trusted Francis. But he was bitterly disappointed,’ biographer says in new interview

Dec 29, 2023

Pope Benedict XVI’s biographer, Peter Seewald, has raised concerns about how Pope Francis is managing the legacy of his predecessor. 

A prayer meeting organized by the Taizé community. | Credit: Christian Pulfrich, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED, Wikimedia

Pope Francis Urges Young Adults at Taizé Event to "dare to build a different world"

Dec 29, 2023

The European Meeting is an annual ecumenical Christian event that hosts several thousand young adults from across the world to gather and pray in a host city.

Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Raymond Burke on Dec. 29, 2023, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Meets With U.S.-born Cardinal amid Salary, Apartment Controversy

Dec 29, 2023

In a press release, the Holy See Press Office briefly mentioned that the pope had met with Cardinal Raymond Burke in an audience Friday morning.

Pope Francis meets with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023, their first meeting since the start of the full-scale war with Russia. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Speaks With Ukraine President about Peace Efforts

Dec 29, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the pontiff expressed “his wishes of peace — just peace for all of us” during the Dec. 28 phone call. 

More than 4,000 faithful attended the celebration of the Christmas Mass at the St. George Parish in the suburb of Edappally, India. | Credit: Anto Akkara

Papal Christmas Deadline Over Syro-Malabar Rift is Met, but Indian Archdiocese Simmers

Dec 28, 2023

Protests and disruptions to “unified” Masses mandated by the pope were observed around the archdiocese, but it remains if there will be consequences from the Vatican.

Members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC). Credit: SACBC

Pope Francis, Church “not enemies of the Jewish people”: Southern African Bishops to Rabbi

Dec 27, 2023

The Catholic Church in general and Pope Francis in particular are not against the Jewish people, members of the of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have told Warren Goldstein, a Chief Rabbi in South Africa.

Pope Francis delivers his general audience address to pilgrims in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on Dec. 27, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: One Must Never Dialogue with the Devil

Dec 27, 2023

Pope Francis inaugurated a new catechetical series on vices and virtues during Wednesday’s general audience by opening with the story of Adam and Eve, which introduces “the dynamic of evil and temptation” and points toward the dangers of dialoguing with the devil. 

Pope Francis gives a blessing after he delivers his Angelus address to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 26, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: After 2,000 Years the Persecution of Christians Continues

Dec 26, 2023

During Tuesday’s Angelus on the occasion of the feast of St. Stephen, Pope Francis renewed his call for peace.

Pope Francis delivers his annual “urbi et orbi” address on Christmas from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 25, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis on Christmas: Saying "yes" to the Prince of Peace Means Saying "no" to War

Dec 25, 2023

On the birthday of the Prince of Peace, Pope Francis called for an end to war in the Holy Land and throughout the world as well as the arms trade that fuels it. 

Pope Francis takes a figure of the Christ child in his arms at the end of the Vatican's Mass for the Nativity of the Lord on Dec. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

Jesus was Born to Save the World: Pope Francis at Christmas Mass

Dec 24, 2023

In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis shared a message for anyone who may be feeling sad or discouraged with a reminder that the Lord was born to save the world and to give us a hope that is greater than all of our problems.

Pope Francis gives his Angelus address on Dec. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Do not Confuse Christmas with Consumerism

Dec 24, 2023

On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis urged Christians not to confuse Christmas with consumerism, but to celebrate the birth of Christ by sharing with those who are lonely and in need.

Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

Full text: Pope Francis’ Homily for Christmas 2023

Dec 24, 2023

The full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.  

Fresco by Giotto of St. Francis of Assisi embracing the Child Jesus at Christmas Mass in Greccio in 1223, located in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. | Public domain

St. Francis and the Story of the First Nativity Scene

Dec 23, 2023

It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher.

Papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski. | lvivadm via Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0).

Pope Francis Sends Papal Almoner to Holy Land for Christmas as a Sign of Solidarity

Dec 22, 2023

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who serves as the papal almoner, will spend Christmas in Jerusalem, where he will join the local Christian community in praying for peace.

People mourn outside the Charles University building following a mass shooting yesterday, on Dec. 22, 2023, in Prague, Czech Republic. Fourteen people were killed and 25 injured. Police say the gunman was a 24-year-old student at the university. | Credit: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

Pope Francis "deeply saddened" by Shooting at Prague University 

Dec 22, 2023

A 24-year-old student opened fire in the university’s philosophy department building after first killing his father outside of Prague. The gunman killed himself after the rampage.