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Pope Francis

Synod on Synodality spokesman Paolo Ruffini speaks to the media during a press briefing at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Synod on Synodality: LGBT Issues, Female Diaconate Discussed in Emotional Third Week

Oct 20, 2023

The process has been driven by what the Synod on Synodality calls “active listening and speaking from the heart.”

Mons. Jovitus Francis Mwijage (left) and Mons. Eusebio Samwel Kyando (right) appointed Bishops for the Catholic Dioceses of Bukoba and Njombe respectively. Credit: TEC

Pope Francis Appoints Bishops for Two Catholic Dioceses in Tanzania

Oct 19, 2023

Pope Francis has appointed new Bishops for the Catholic Dioceses of Bukoba and Njombe in Tanzania.

Pope Francis meets with World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder at the Vatican on Oct. 19, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

World Jewish Congress Leader Asks Pope to Use "moral authority" to Help Israeli Hostages

Oct 19, 2023

In his meeting with the pope, Ronald Lauder urged the pontiff “to use your power, to use your strength, to get these hostages released.”

Pope Francis at the general audience at St. Peter's Square on Oct. 18, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Stresses Need to Put Jesus at the Center of our Lives

Oct 18, 2023

At the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 18, the pope announced that Oct. 27 has been designated as a day of prayer and fasting.

Pope Francis presides over his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Announces Prayer Vigil, Day of Fasting for Peace in Israel-Hamas War

Oct 18, 2023

An interfaith vigil will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 in St. Peter’s Square, where the faithful will join the pope in “an hour of prayer in a spirit of penance.”

Pope Francis smiles during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Sept. 27, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis in New Interview: "Church has to change" in Favor of Human Dignity

Oct 17, 2023

Pope Francis, speaking in a new interview published by a media outlet in his native Argentina, said the Church must change “in favor of the dignity of the people.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux. | Credit: Public domain

Pope Francis Highlights "little greatness" of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Apostolic Letter

Oct 15, 2023

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also called “The Little Flower,” was a French Carmelite nun who died in 1897 from tuberculosis at the age of 24.

Pope Francis received President-Designate of COP28 UAE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

COP28 President-designate Meets with Pope Francis to Discuss Common Climate Goals 

Oct 12, 2023

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber from the UAE met the pope on Wednesday at the Vatican ahead of the COP28 meeting taking place in Dubai Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. 

Josephine Bakhita. | A.Currell via Flickr (CC BY NC 2.0)

Pope Francis Highlights St. Josephine Bakhita’s Example of Forgiveness

Oct 11, 2023

The Sudanese-Italian saint’s life story is “an existential parable of forgiveness,” the pope said Wednesday.

Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis has Lunch with Rome’s Poor Who Tell him "what they expect from the Church"

Oct 11, 2023

Like the synod assembly participants, the lunch guests were asked “what they expect from the Church,” Paolo Ruffini told journalists Oct. 11.

Alexandra Lande / Shutterstock.

Pope Francis Calls Gaza Priest as Israel Announces Blockade

Oct 10, 2023

The pope called Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza City and in the Gaza Strip, Oct. 9, AgenSir reported.

A blessing service at St. Augustin Catholic church in Würzburg, Germany, for couples, including those of the same-sex, May 10, 2021. | Gehrig/CNA Deutsch.

TIMELINE: What has the Catholic Church said about Same-sex "blessings"?

Oct 9, 2023

Here’s a timeline of how the controversy over same-sex blessings has unfolded.

Pope Francis waves from a window of the Apostolic Palace during his weekly Sunday address and Angelus on Oct. 8, 2023. He spoke about the importance of having gratitude for the gifts one has received, especially the gifts of life and faith from God. | Vatican Media.

Pope Francis: Do not Forget Your Life and Faith are a Gift from God

Oct 8, 2023

Do not forget to be grateful to God for the free gift of your life and faith, Pope Francis said in his weekly message at the Vatican on Sunday.

Pope Francis prays during a general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 20, 2023. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, celebrates Easter Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on April 4, 2021. | Credit: (L) Daniel Ibanez/CNA. (R) Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Pope Francis, Jerusalem Patriarch React to Violence Between Israel and Hamas

Oct 8, 2023

The pope issued an appeal Sunday to “please stop weapons attacks!”

Speaking at a press briefing on Oct. 6, Vatican spokesman Paolo Ruffini said that there needs to be “a certain amount of confidentiality about who takes the floor and who doesn't in order to leave the space open … for ‘conversation in the Spirit.’” | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Secrecy at the Synod on Synodality: What we know about delegates’ confidentiality requirements  

Oct 6, 2023

The Synod on Synodality’s official regulations no longer allow Synod delegates to share their personal interventions with the public. 

Credit: Unsplash

Read Some of the Reactions to the Pope’s "heartfelt appeal" on Climate Change

Oct 5, 2023

Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on the environment and the threat of climate change was met with praise both by Catholic and environmental leaders.

Cardinal Raymond Burke was part of a panel that convened on the eve of the Synod on Synodality, Oct. 3, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News

“Dubia” Not an Attack on Pope Francis Nor His Agenda: One of Five Cardinal Authors Says

Oct 5, 2023

The cardinal was speaking at a conference in Rome on Oct. 3 on the theme “the synodal Babel” to discuss the main points of contention raised by the synod.

Archbishop Joseph Yapo Aké (left) and Bishop Jean-Jacques Koffi Oi Koffi (right). Credit: Archdiocese of Gagnoa/San Pedro Diocese

Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of 72-year-old Ivorian Archbishop, Appoints Caretaker

Oct 4, 2023

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Joseph Yapo Aké of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gagnoa in Ivory Coast, the 72-year-old Catholic Church leader who started his Episcopal Ministry as Auxiliary Bishop of Abidjan in September 2001.

Synod on Synodality delegates in small groups listen to Pope Francis' guidance for the upcoming weeks on Oct. 4, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis to Synod on Synodality Participants: "Do not sadden the Holy Spirit"

Oct 4, 2023

Pointing synod delegates to texts by St. Basil on the Holy Spirit, the pope emphasized the importance of listening over speaking.

Pope Francis smiles during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Sept. 27, 2023. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Issues New Call for Dramatic Climate Change Measures

Oct 4, 2023

Pope Francis on Wednesday released a new document on the environment that he has described as the “second part” of his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', and which warns of “grave consequences” if humanity continues to ignore the threat of climate change.