Pope Francis warns Christians against remaining attached to worldly ways of thinking and behavior at his homily during Mass celebrated on Tuesday at the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence. Taking his inspiration from the day’s reading from the First Letter of Peter that urges Christians to be holy in every aspect of their conduct, the Pope’s homily [...]
Pope Francis meets in the Vatican with participants in a conference on ways of combatting religious violence Pope Francis met on Friday with participants at a conference on how to combat violence committed in the name of religion. In his address, the Pope stressed that every human life is sacred, whatever the individual’s ethnicity, [...]
This Sunday, Pope Francis reflects on the Feast of the Holy Family and how St Luke’s Gospel describes the presentation of Jesus in the Temple Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! On this first Sunday after Christmas, we celebrate the Holy Family of Nazareth, and the Gospel invites us to reflect on the experience lived by [...]
Pope Francis met on Tuesday with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Muhammad al-Tayeb who is in Rome to attend a conference organised by the St Egidio community. No details of the private encounter were released, but the meeting marked the second trip to the Vatican in two years by Egypt’s top Muslim leader. His first meeting with [...]
Pope Francis has sent a handwritten message to Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, full of well-wishes for his name day. The feast day of the apostle St. Bartholomew is celebrated in the Oriental Churches on 11 June. "May Catholics and Orthodox continue on the path towards full communion, working together to promote peace, cooperation, and dialogue [...]
The life of every Christian is a journey and a process during which to deepen the faith. Speaking during the homily at morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope reflected on the liturgical reading of the day in which St. Paul tells the story of Salvation leading up to Jesus. During the course of [...]
Pope Francis reflected on last weekend’s Apostolic Voyage to Egypt during his weekly General Audience, recalling the various stages of his trip. The Holy Father thanked the people of Egypt for their warm welcome, and noted the “extraordinary commitment” of the Egyptian authorities to ensure his visit went off without a hitch. He spoke of his [...]
May 1, 2017, Monday Reading today, I came across a brief passage from the conversation between Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and German writer Peter Seewald, part of a book which was published in September 2016 as Last Testament. (Here is a link to the book, the passage in question is from pages 240-241.) It is a [...]
In just one week’s time, Pope Francis takes off on a journey to the Egyptian capital Cairo, where he will visit the prestigious al-Azhar centre of Islamic studies. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the Orthodox world, is also expected to join the Holy Father there, alongside the Coptic Pope Tawadros II. Both Pope Francis and [...]
· A journey of hope · Lent should be lived as a “journey of hope” which leads Christians “from slavery to freedom”. This reminder was at the heart of the Holy Father’s reflection for the General Audience on Ash Wednesday, 1 March, in Saint Peter’s Square. The following is a translation of the catechesis, which Pope [...]
