In Christmas Day message, Pope decries Gaza’s “appalling harvest” of civilian deaths
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis said in his Christmas message on Monday that children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians. In his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the city and world”) address, Francis also called the […]
Icy winds of war buffet humanity at Christmas – Pope’s lament
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.” At noon in Rome, Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “‘to the city […]
Pope makes Easter plea for Ukraine peace, cites nuclear risk
Vatican CityAP On what is supposed to be Christianity’s most joyful day, Pope Francis made an anguished Easter Sunday plea for peace in the “senseless” war in Ukraine and in other armed conflicts raging in the world, and voiced worry about the risk of nuclear warfare. “May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely […]
Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis in his traditional Easter Sunday address denounced as “scandalous” how armed conflicts continue to rage even as the coronavirus pandemic has triggered severe social and economic suffering and swollen the ranks of the poor. Francis tempered his “Urbi et Orbi″ address (Latin for ”To the city and to the world”) wishes […]
Pope on COVID-19 vaccine: Needy, vulnerable must come first
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis made a Christmas Day plea for authorities to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all, insisting that the first in line should be the most vulnerable and needy, regardless of who holds the patents for the shots. “Vaccines for everybody, especially for the most vulnerable and needy,” who should be first in […]
Pope Francis says “We are all in the same boat”, during Urbi et Orbi ceremony
Vatican CityRNS As the world grapples with the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis delivered a homily of hope on Friday, comparing the pandemic to a storm that can be overcome only by coming together in faith. “We have realised that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at […]
Pope defends migrants, calls for peace in Christmas message
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the “darkness in human hearts” that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants. In his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, the 83-year-old Pope called for peace in the Holy […]
Pope Francis calls for peace in Easter Sunday address
Pope Francis has used his annual Easter Sunday address to call for peace around the world, noting that the hope Christians find in Christ’s resurrection “does not disappoint”. In his annual Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) address, the Pope, speaking from a balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square in Rome where thousands […]
In Easter message, Pope warns against the spread of conflict
RNS Pope Francis waves at the end of his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. PICTURE: REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini Pope Francis used his traditional Easter Sunday message to call the bombing of a refugee convoy near Aleppo a “despicable attack” and urged […]
Pope’s Christmas message urges end to war, terrorism and ‘idolatry of money’
RNS Pope Francis used his traditional Christmas message to call for an end to war and terrorism, and to remember migrants, refugees and those who suffer as a result of “the economic ambitions of the few.” The pontiff delivered his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the City and to the World) blessing before an estimated 40,000 […]