The Holy See Press office stated the possible opening of a permanent pontifical office in Hanoi, in the “near future” after the meeting between the Vatican and Vietnam.
At the special invitation of Pope Francis, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and a group of 56 others, including the bishops of Sri Lanka, left for the Vatican, April 22.
Pope Francis will be unable to preside over Ash Wednesday services on March 2 because of acute knee pain, according to media reports.
The pope’s doctor had “prescribed a period of greater rest for the leg” because of “acute gonalgia,” or knee pain, the Vatican explained in a note.
On February 24, President Vladimir Putin of Russia ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Ukraine said it faced a “full-scale attack from multiple directions.”
Hours after the Russian offensive began, the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops’ Conference sent a message to the faithful, inviting them to pray for “the leaders of our state, for our army” and also “for those who started the war and were blinded by aggression.”
The bishops urged the faithful not to give in to “hatred and rage.”
Pope Francis on Friday exhorted Christians to keep clear of a fake, commercial Christmas, polluted by consumerism and indifference. He made the remark to a group of 3 delegations who donated two Nativity Scenes and a Christmas tree to the Vatican this year.
The Vatican has released on Tuesday, June 1, major revisions to the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, including sanctions related to clergy sex abuse cases.
Pope Francis urged people to continue to listen to the “cry of the earth and to the cry of the poor” as the Catholic Church marked the end of the “Laudato si Year” observance on Monday, May 24.
A group of children read the meditations, stopping 14 times around the St. Peter’s Square to mark each of the “Stations of the Cross,” starting with the first when Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate to the last when he was buried in a tomb.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responds in the negative to the possibility of imparting a blessing to unions of same-sex couples, noting that it “does not imply a judgment on persons” involved.
The Vatican this week expressed support for calls to ease international patent protections and speed up sub-licensing agreements for the production of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Iraqi government has announced stringent COVID-19 precautions, including the closure of mosques and churches "until further notice," ahead of the visit of Pope Francis to the country.
