Pope urges Italians to have more children, welcome migrants
Matera, ItalyAP Pope Francis travelled to southern Italy on Sunday to close out an Italian church congress that coincided with Italy’s national election, and delivered a message that hit on key domestic campaign issues including immigration. Neither Francis nor his hosts referred to the vote during the open-air Mass, though Italy’s bishops conference had earlier […]
Pope appeals to the young to save the planet, find peace
Assisi, Italy AP Pope Francis, visiting Assisi, the birthplace of his namesake saint who was close to nature, called on Saturday for “courage” in abandoning fossil fuels and lamented that older generations didn’t know how to protect the planet and secure peace. He told young people he was pinning his hopes on their efforts in […]
Inspired by Pope Francis, graffiti artist brings pop message to young people in Assisi
Vatican City RNS Pope Francis’ economic vision meets graffiti art in a new show by Roman artist Mauro Pallotta, or Maupal, who hopes his work will inspire the thousands of young adults gathering in Assisi this week as they imagine a new kind of global economy. The artist’s nine most influential works are on exhibit in […]
Pope offers hope to poor in visit to namesake’s Assisi home
Assisi, Italy AP Pope Francis travelled to the hilltop town of his namesake for the fifth time in his pontificate on Friday to honour the poorest and most marginal and urge that they be welcomed and cared for by the church. In one of his first outings in Italy since the coronavirus pandemic, Francis took […]
Carlo Acutis, Millennial candidate for Catholic sainthood, draws 41,000 to Assisi church
Vatican CityRNS The Catholic Church’s most recent candidate for sainthood is also its most modern. Lying in a glass-sided casket in jeans and a track jacket, the body of Carlo Acutis, an internet enthusiast who died in 2006 of leukemia at the age of 15, was venerated by some 41,000 visitors during a 19-day-long celebration […]
Pope in first post-lockdown outing goes to Assisi to sign text
Assisi, ItalyAP Pope Francis travelled to the tomb of his nature-loving namesake and signed an encyclical Saturday laying out his vision of a post-COVID world built on solidarity, fraternity and care for the environment. In his first outing from Rome since late February, Francis celebrated Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of St Francis […]
Pope set to make first trip since pandemic to saint’s town
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis is next month set to make what would be his first visit outside Rome since Italy was put under lockdown in early March when it became the first country in Europe to feel the full brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. The Pope is to journey to Assisi, the birthplace in the […]
GOING GREEN: FROM BETTER BULBS TO MORE TREES, ITALY’S ASSISI TAKES ON CLIMATE CHANGE
As the world meets to discuss action on climate change in Bonn, ALEX WHITING, of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how this talian pilgrimage town, home to St Francis, is looking to cleaner energy and greener living…
Christian leaders among hundreds who gathered in Italy for 30th Day of Prayer for Peace
Christian leaders including Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, were among hundreds of faith leaders who gathered in Assisi, Italy, this week to join in the Day of Prayer for Peace. Initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1986, […]