Vatican Watch

Vatican Watch April 2016

FEBRUARY SATURDAY 27 How a Change in Vatican Protocol Reflects Outreach to the Divorced-and-Remarried With an eye toward divorced-and-remarried Catholics, Pope Francis has recently changed protocol for heads of state who are visiting the Pope at the Vatican. Catholic heads of state who are in an irregular marital situation may now take part in an official [...]

Vatican Watch

NOVEMBER SUNDAY 1 The Path of the Beatitudes The beatitudes are the most direct path toward happiness and holiness, Pope Francis said during Mass on All Saints’ Day. He urged the congregation to imitate Jesus in walking the difficult, yet rewarding, road to heaven. The Pope said the beatitudes make up “the path of holiness, and [...]

Vatican Watch

SEPTEMBER Friday 18 Vatican parish welcomes first refugee family following Pope’s appeal The Vatican announced that a family of four — mother, father and two children — was welcomed by the community of the Vatican’s St. Anne Parish in Rome after Pope Francis made an appeal earlier this month for every church in Europe to open [...]

January Recap

Sunday 10 PRAYERS FOR THOSE HIT BY DEADLY TYPHOON During the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope expressed his concern and prayers for the estimated tens of thousands of people dead and others affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated parts of the central Philippines November 8. “I wish to express my closeness [...]

Vatican Watch – December 2013

OCTOBER Tuesday 1- Thursday 3 POPE ATTENDS A MEETING WITH eight CARDINALS Pope Francis and his eight cardinal advisers on Church governance spent much of their first day together discussing the reform of the Synod of Bishops. Possible changes to the organization of the world Synod of Bishops, which has been a periodic gathering of bishops [...]

Vatican Watch – August 2013

MAY Thursday 16 A CALL FOR GLOBAL, ETHICAL FINANCE REFORM Pope Francis today called for global financial reform that respects human dignity, helps the poor, promotes the common good and allows states to regulate markets. “Money has to serve, not to rule,” he said in his strongest remarks yet as Pope concerning the world’s economic and [...]

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