Lord Ahmad met with top Vatican officials and addressed a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University ‘Why it matters to be intolerant of intolerance’ was the title of a conference held at Rome’s Gregorian University this week, highlighting the need for closer cooperation in the fight against violent extremism. Key speakers at the event were [...]
Pope Francis meets on Wednesday afternoon with Myanmar’s Supreme Council of Buddhist monks, as well as with the country’s Minister for Religious Affairs. There are about half a million monks in the country today, plus over 60.000 Buddhist nuns, often seen with shaved heads and pink robes, collecting money or uncooked rice in metal alms bowls. Philippa Hitchen is in [...]
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 met on Monday with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, calling for an end to violence and discrimination against people of different faiths in the Holy Land. The Orthodox leader is visiting Rome from October 22nd to 25th, meeting with top Vatican officials. During the audience, Pope Francis recalled his own journey to Jerusalem [...]
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 [...]
On First Trip to a European Country, Francis Moved to Tears Two survivors of Albania’s communist crackdown against the Church brought Pope Francis to tears with their stories during a vespers service in Tirana’s cathedral September 21. “To hear a martyr talk about his own martyrdom is intense,” the Pope told journalists on the papal plane [...]
