No Clarity As I write on November 5 at 5 p.m., the final result of the US presidential election remains in doubt. Almost two full days have passed since the closing of the polls on November 3. Millions do believe it is "clear" now that Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden has in fact defeated incumbent [...]
“I am writing to you in the midst of the silence of both civil and religious authorities. May you accept these words of mine as the 'voice of one crying out in the desert'” (Jn 1:23).—Italian Archbishop Viganò, in his latest essay, an Open Letter to U.S. President Donald Trump. The letter is dated on Sunday, October [...]
Above, the moment of the terrible explosion on the evening of Tuesday, August 4, 2020, in Beirut, Lebanon. The massive explosion unleashed a terrific shock wave that traveled outward for 6 miles, knocking out windows, killing more than 150, and wounding thousands. Above, two different views of the explosion, one a close-up, and one from [...]
His now traditional inflight press conference was cut short by turbulence, but Pope Francis managed to answer numerous questions on current issues, including climate change, immigration, and the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. The first questions were asked by Colombian reporters, regarding the Apostolic Visit. Asked what concrete steps Colombians can take to overcome the divisions and hatred caused by decades of [...]
Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump met in the Vatican on Wednesday, discussing issues of peace, interfaith dialogue and religious freedom, as well as the role of the American Church in education, healthcare and support for immigrants. The American leader spent half an hour in conversation with the Pope behind closed doors in the Apostolic [...]
May 17, 2017, Wednesday "I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them.”—Pope Francis with regard to his upcoming May 24 meeting with US President Donald Trump. Francis spoke during an in-flight press conference as he flew back from Portugal to Rome on the evening of May 13, four days ago "I prefer [...]
May 15, 2017, Monday "I saw that American leaders wanted to cooperate with Russia.”—The influential Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, the Oxford-educated "Foreign Minister" of the increasingly powerful Russian Orthodox Church, in an interview published today on the website of the Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate. The interview follows Hilarion's four-day trip to Washington D.C. to participate [...]
May 4, 2017, Thursday Alert Today from the Holy See Press Office His Holiness Pope Francis will receive the Hon. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, on Wednesday, 24 May 2017, at 8:30 a.m. in the Apostolic Palace. President Trump will then meet with His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and [...]
March 27, 2017, Monday -- A Communist Ecumenist? Zyuganov on the Split between Eastern and Western Christianity I have been trying to drive home one fundamental point for more than 20 years now, both in the pages of Inside the Vatican magazine, and in the work of the Urbi et Orbi Foundation which seeks to "build [...]
January 31, 2017, Tuesday -- "The flower of mankind" "Our forefathers... were able to bequeath to us a Church and a civilization that really is the flower of mankind." — Steve Bannon, top advisor to US President Donal Trump, in 2014, speaking from Los Angeles to a Vatican conference on global poverty and on how best [...]
