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April 26, 2013 (Romereports.com) The bishops that lead the Episcopal Conference for Latin America had a brief meeting with Pope Francis, who until recently was a member of the council.
More than half of all Catholics in the world are in Latin America. The collaboration among the many countries and their episcopal conferences is essential.
Cardinal Ruben Salazar, archbishop of Bogotá, understands this well and
he precisely spoke about this topic with Pope Francis. CARD. RUBEN SALAZAR ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 26, 2013 (Romereports.com) It seems everyone nowadays wants a piece of Pope Francis. A photo, a blessing, and if they're lucky, a handshake, are enough to motivate thousands of people to pack St. Peter's Square during the Pope's precious public moments. Their devotion to him was in full display on Wednesday. Nearly six weeks after his election as Pope, more than 70,000 people filed in noisily to the Square for the general audience. One of the unsuspecting tourists describes it best: ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 26, 2013 (Romereports.com) Pope Francis reunited with one of his oldest friends from Buenos Aires. Isaac Sacca, is the chief rabbi of the Sephardi Jewish community in Buenos Aires, and president of Menora, a Jewish youth group. The rabbi asked the Pope to continue praying for their homeland. -You must continue praying for Argentina.-Definitely.-Now, it is even closer to God.Despite his youth, Isaac Sacca has been actively involved and has even received an award from the Yahad-In Unum group in ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 26, 2013 (Romereports.com) Pope Francis welcomed the president for the High Transitional Authority for Madagascar, Andry Nirina Rajoelina, on Friday morning at the Apostolic Palace. During the meeting, the African leader and the Pope spoke about how to improve the political and economic situation in the island country, located off of Africa's Indian Ocean coast.
They also spoke about the role the Catholic Church has played in the divided politics of the island. After meeting with the P ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 26, 2013 (Romereports.com) The spokesperson for the Vatican, Father Federico Lombardi, said Pope Francis' only planned trip outside of Italy this year will be to Brazil for World Youth Day, adding that any stops in any other countries is highly unlikely. The
announcement came the same day the Pope met with bishops from Latin
America. Many of the region's leaders that attended his Inaugural Mass
had hoped, and had invited, the Pope to visit their countries. But the
Vatican's announceme ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 25, 2013 (Romereports.com) There are many historic pilgrimage routes in Catholicism, and perhaps
one of the oldest is the Via Francigena, which means “the road that
comes from France.”
While the northern portion, from Canterbury,
England to Rome, has been well-documented, the southern portion, from
the Holy Land to Rome, is lesser known.
In an effort to help guide pilgrims through the last 90
kilometers or 56 miles of the trip, local communiti ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 25, 2013 (Romereports.com) The Archbishop of
Sydney, George Pell is one of eight cardinals who were recently
appointed, to advise the Pope on how to reform the Roman Curia. CARD. GEORGE PELLArchbishop of Sydney (Australia) “It's not a cabinet. We are not an executive. In no sense is the Holy Father answer to us.” Actually
reforming the Roman Curia was discussed quite extensively before the
conclave, when cardinals met for their general congregation meetings.
Even though the gr ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 25, 2013 (Romereports.com) As part of the Year
of Faith, Pope Francis will celebrate a special Mass on Sunday April
28th in St. Peter's Square. There, the Pope will confirm a group of
people from all over the world. At least 70,000 people
are expected to attend, many of them will be youths. To welcome them a
short pilgrimage will take place on Saturday the 27th. It will start at
the obelisk in St. Peter's Square and end inside the Vatican at the
tomb of St. Peter. A total of 44 people ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) After Wednesday's general audience, Pope Francis greeted the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, a group that works to locate children kidnapped or that went missing during Argentina's military dictatorship. The Pope recognized the group's president Estela Carlotto, and recalled that they last saw each other at the Buenos Aires Cathedral, during a tribute to Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement.ESTELA CARLOTTO President, Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo&ldqu ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) To trigger change in the Roman Curia, the Pope is first trying to change
the culture in the workplace. Today the Pope celebrated morning Mass
with members of the Vatican Bank. The Pope said the Church is a love
story and not a bureaucratic organization. He added that departments of
the Church are necessary if they strengthen that love story. POPE FRANCIS“We,
the women and men of the Church are in the middle of a love story.
Every o ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) Just six week after being elected, Pope Francis beat his own record. This week, the number of people attending his general audience was more than 70,000. Locals,
visitors and tourists began arriving to St. Peter's Square about two
hours before the Pope's general audience, all for a chance to get a
good spot. The Pope made his way through in his
popemobile, greeting pilgrims for about 20 minutes. Many were simply
hoping to give the Pope a gift, like t ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) Despite news reports on Tuesday that two kidnapped Syrian archbishops in
Aleppo had been freed, the Greek Orthodox Church said they hadn't
received proof of their release and that the two prelates spent the
night being held against their will.
During the general audience,
Pope Francis issued a call to peace in Syria, where the armed conflict
has had devastating consequences for the entire population. POPE FRANCIS“The
kidna ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) Pope Francis drew an unexpectedly large crowd during Wednesday's general audience at St. Peter's Square, attracting more than 70,000 pilgrims. The Pope rode out onto the Square on board the Popemobile, kissing a large number of babies along the way. The 20 minute ride wove him around the large crowds of people gathered to see him up close. In the catechesis he once again spoke out directly to young people, asking them to use their lives and ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 23, 2013 (Romereports.com) Gunmen freed two Orthodox Christian archbishops after holding them against their will for less than 24 hours in northern Syria. According to the Catholic aid group L'Oeuvre d'Orient, Metropolitan Yuhanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church were released unharmed at about 2PM local time in Syria.
Their capture drew condemnation from worldwide religious leaders, including Pope Francis, as they prayed ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 23, 2013 (Romereports.com) Gunmen kidnapped two Christian Orthodox archbishops on Monday as the made their way back to Aleppo in northern Syria from the Turkish border. Both the Syriac and the Greek Orthodox Church confirmed on their websites that several gunmen stopped their car, killing the driver and kidnapping the two archbishops. Metropolitan
Yuhanna Ibrahim leads the Aleppo diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church,
while Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi leads the Greek Orthodox ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 23, 2013 (Romereports.com) Pope Francis celebrated the feast day of St. George,
his patron saint, with a Mass as the Pauline Chapel, along with the
resident cardinals in Rome. At the start of the ceremony, Cardinal Dean
Angelo Sodano congratulated him on behalf of others. During the
hour-long ceremony, Pope Francis gave a brief homily similar to the ones he offers at the Casa Santa Marta Chapel. POPE FRANCIS“I
also thank all of you who wanted to come today: Thank y ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 23, 2013 (Romereports.com) The heart of the Vatican Museums is this green landscape. Inside one of the most famous galleries in the world, tourists and other curious people can visit the Square Garden. The green space takes up nearly two and a half acres inside the world's smallest state. It was built 500 years ago at the request of Paul III, who is actually the same Pope who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Final Judgment inside the Sistine Chapel. ANTONIO PAOLUCCI Director, ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 22, 2013 (Romereports.com) The Custodian of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, sent an urgent message asking for emergency donations to help support Syrian families.
The ongoing violence is escalating among rival groups, and already
hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes. One year since the civil war started, Syrian families lack food or work because all industries have been destroyed.
This past week, renewed fighting southwest of Damascus killed more than ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 22, 2013 (Romereports.com) In light of the political unrest in Venezuela, Pope Francis made a special appeal Sunday afternoon, during the Regina Coeli.
The Pope said he was worried about the instability, and called on Venezuelan leaders to find peaceful solutions. POPE FRANCIS “I
follow closely what is happening in Venezuela. The accompanied with
deep concern, with intense prayer and hoping they find and they are just
and peaceful way to overcome serious difficulties when t ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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April 22, 2013 (Romereports.com) St. Peter's Square rang out with the words and the overwhelming responses Pope Francis had from youth. Once again, the overflow of pilgrims at St. Peter's made it necessary to cut off traffic along Pius XII Square. During
the Regina Coeli, the Pope broke through the distance between himself
and the square, and began his conversation with young pilgrims. POPE FRANCIS“I
would like to ask you: have you sometimes heard the voice of the Lord
which thro ROMEREPORTS.COM (View | Pope Francis) |
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