Pope will travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in longest trip of papacy
Vatican City AP Pope Francis will visit Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore in September, the Vatican announced Friday, confirming the longest trip of Francis’ papacy that is sure to test his health, stamina and mobility. The Vatican confirmed the 2nd to 13th September visit, saying the 87-year-old Pope would visit Jakarta, Indonesia; Port […]
Pope meets Vietnam political delegation, wants to visit the country
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis met a delegation from Vietnam’s Communist Party on Thursday and the Vatican’s foreign minister said the pontiff was keen to visit the South-East Asian country in the wake of upgraded relations. The meeting followed a private audience between the Pope and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in July, when both […]
Pope’s visit to France stirs debate over immigration, secularism
Paris, FranceReuters Pope Francis’ scheduled visit to France next week has stirred debate in the French political class, with left-wing politicians criticising the president for attending Mass while the far-right objects to the Pope’s positive views on immigration. Francis will travel to Marseille, France’s second city and a historic gateway for immigrants, where he is expected […]
Pope Francis plans to visit his native Argentina in 2024, local media reports
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaReuters Pope Francis, who has not visited his home country Argentina since he left for the Vatican a decade ago, said he planned to visit in 2024, local media reported on Sunday. “I always wanted to return,” Francis told Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper. Pope Francis speaks as he attends the weekly general audience […]
Pope to visit Hungary in April, migration and war on agenda
Rome, Italy/Budapest, Hungary AP Pope Francis will visit Hungary at the end of April, the Vatican said Monday, in a trip expected to focus on migration to Europe and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The 28th to 30th April trip to Budapest represents a proper state visit after Francis made a brief, hours-long stopover in 2021 […]
Answering battles over doctrine and liturgy, Pope Francis praises unity in the church
Vatican CityRNS On the last day of his apostolic visit to Canada, Pope Francis spoke to a group of Jesuit priests and emphasised the importance of unity among bishops and in the entire church, even as divisions over liturgy and doctrine continued to plague his papacy. A transcript of the Pope’s meeting Friday with 15 […]
Pope again asks for forgiveness as tour ends in Canada’s north
Iqaluit, Nunavut, CanadaReuters Pope Francis again asked for forgiveness after meeting on Friday with residential school survivors in the Arctic territory of Nunavut, the last stop in his six-day visit to Canada to apologise to Indigenous people for abuse in government schools run by the Roman Catholic Church. After a private meeting in a small […]
Canada leaders tell Pope of horrors of Indigenous schools
Updated: 10:50am (AEST)Quebec City, CanadaReuters Canada’s leaders on Wednesday pointedly told Pope Francis of the horrors of church-run residential schools for Indigenous and the pontiff lamented that many were still living in poverty in one of the world’s richest countries. Francis flew east across the country from Edmonton in the prairies of Alberta to Quebec […]
Pope: Church must take institutional blame for harm done to Indigenous Canadians
Lac Ste Anne, Alberta, CanadaReuters Pope Francis on Tuesday said the Roman Catholic Church should accept institutional blame for the harm done to Indigenous Canadians in residential schools that tried to wipe out native cultures. Francis made his comment during a visit to Lac Ste Anne, a lakeside pilgrimage site about 70 kilometres west of […]
A #toosoon moment? Pope in headdress draws mixed response
Phoenix, United StatesAP It was a stunning image: Pope Francis briefly wearing a full Indigenous headdress, its rows of soft white feathers fastened in place by a colourful, beaded headband after he apologised for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s “disastrous” residential school system for Indigenous children. Chief Wilton Littlechild, a residential school survivor himself, […]