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Vatican news

St. Peter's Basilica. | Credit: vvo/Shutterstock

Vatican Says Priests Can Bless Same-sex Couples Without Condoning their Lifestyles

Dec 18, 2023

The Vatican has issued new guidance on the topic of blessings of same-sex attracted people, stating that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. 

Pope Francis celebrates his birthday on Dec. 17, 2023, with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Celebrates 87th Birthday with Children Who Receive Aid from Vatican Clinic

Dec 17, 2023

Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday on Sunday morning ahead of his weekly Angelus by meeting with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary.

A member of the crowd in St. Peter's Square holds up a baby Jesus figure for a blessing by Pope Francis at his Sunday Angelus Dec. 17, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

"Only in God do we find the light of life": Pope Francis at Sunday Angelus

Dec 17, 2023

Pope Francis reflected on St. John the Baptist as a luminous figure who testifies to the light and teaches us that “only in God do we find the light of life” during his Angelus address Dec. 17 on the third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudete Sunday.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims during his Angelus address on Dec. 17, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Condemns Reported Israeli Sniper Attack on Gaza Catholic Church

Dec 17, 2023

The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem reported that two women were shot by the IDF on Dec. 16.

Pope Francis at his general audience on Nov. 22, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Turns 87: One of the Oldest Popes in Church History

Dec 17, 2023

As the 266th successor of St. Peter to the papacy, Francis will be the oldest bishop of Rome since Pope Leo XIII, the oldest pope in history.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu. | Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA

Vatican Court Sentences Cardinal to 5 Years in Jail for Embezzlement

Dec 16, 2023

Five other defendants in the "Trial of the Century" received similar sentences.

Rev. Thomas Petri, O.P. is President of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. | Credit: EWTN News Nightly Dec. 14, 2023

Moral Theologian on New Cremation Guidance: "Reverence for body" Still Paramount

Dec 15, 2023

Catholic Church teaching on “reverence for the body” must still be at the center of any decisions related to a loved one’s ashes. 

Ana de Lobera y Torres (1545-1621), better known by her religious name Sister Ana de Jesús, helped expand the Discalced Carmelites to France and Belgium. Painting in the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, Brussels, ca. 1650. | Credit: AnonymousUnknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pope Francis Recognizes Miracle Attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila’s Spiritual Daughter

Dec 14, 2023

In a decree signed Dec. 14, Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Ana de Lobera y Torres, better known by her religious name Sister Ana de Jesús.

Pope Francis speaks at his general audience Dec. 13, 2023, in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Says That He Wants to Be Buried in Marian Basilica in New Interview

Dec 13, 2023

Pope Francis has said that he wants to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome because of his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Bishops process into St. Peter's Basilica for the closing Mass of the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 29, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Synod on Synodality Next Steps: Pope to Choose "big questions" for Further Study

Dec 12, 2023

The possible ordination of women to the diaconate is among the “matters of great relevance” that synod delegates in October said require further consideration.

Oleksandr Kniaziev / Shutterstock

Pope to Vatican Employees: Lure of Corruption is Dangerous and "we must be vigilant"

Dec 12, 2023

Pope Francis received in an audience on Monday the members of the Office of the Auditor General.

Pope Francis meets with the prefects of the Italian Republic in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Dec. 11, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Expresses Concern about Italy’s Low Birth Rate

Dec 11, 2023

Pope Francis on Monday received the prefects of the Italian Republic in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

Pope Francis delivers his Angelus message on Dec. 10, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope at Angelus: "Through silence and prayer, we make space for Jesus"

Dec 10, 2023

Pope Francis highlighted the importance of listening to God by embracing the example of John the Baptist. 

Pope Francis waves from the window of the Apostolic Palace as he gives his Angelus address for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Announces Catholic Church’s First World Day of Children

Dec 8, 2023

The event was inspired by a 9-year-old boy named Alessandro, who proposed the idea to the pope to have an international event for younger children.

A firefighter scales a long ladder to the top of a nearly 40-foot-high column to pay tribute at dawn to the Blessed Virgin with a wreath of flowers on Dec. 8, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

PHOTOS: Pope Francis Honors Virgin Mary on Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Dec 8, 2023

Pope Francis prayed in front of a statue of the Immaculate Conception near Rome’s Spanish Steps, which sits atop a nearly 40-foot-high column.

Pope Francis greets members of Italy's National Association of St. Paul on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. | Credit: Vatican

Pope Francis Reads Speeches Unassisted for the First Time in Nearly Two Weeks

Dec 7, 2023

The pope seemed to show improvement Thursday by reading out his speeches during his various meetings on Dec. 7. 

Pope Francis at the general audience at the Vatican on Dec. 6, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Francis’ cardinal advisers hear from 2 female professors on women’s role in the Church

Dec 7, 2023

The pope’s Council of Cardinals has been discussing the role of women in the Church since February 2022.

Pope Francis at his general audience on Nov. 22, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Signs Interfaith Climate Statement As Part of COP28 Summit in Dubai

Dec 4, 2023

“Our faith instills in us a sacred duty to cherish not only our human family but also the fragile ecosystem that cradles us,” the document said.

Papal aide Monsignor Paolo Braida reads Pope Francis' prepared remarks for the Sunday Angelus on Dec. 3, 2023, from the chapel at the papal residence at Casa Santa Marta. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis on First Sunday of Advent: "I’m improving, but my voice still doesn’t work"

Dec 3, 2023

Pope Francis, for the second consecutive Sunday, was assisted by an aide in praying the Angelus, as he continues to recover from an acute bronchial infection.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin. | Claude Truong-Ngoc via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Cardinal Parolin Will Represent Pope Francis at Climate Conference

Dec 1, 2023

The pope was advised by his doctors earlier this week not to travel to Dubai due to a bronchial infection.