Pope Francis

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Pope OKs Martyrdom for Archbishop Killed in 1980

Decreed Oscar Romero was killed out of hatred for the faith

(Newser) - Pope Francis decreed today that slain Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero was killed out of hatred for the faith, approving a martyrdom declaration that sets the stage for his beatification. Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was gunned down by right-wing death squads in 1980 while celebrating Mass. He had spoken...

Vatican Gives Up on Doves, Turns to Balloons
 Vatican Gives Up on Doves 
Jan 25, 2015 8:41 AM CST

Vatican Gives Up on Doves

Animal-rights groups objected after last year's attack

(Newser) - A year after Pope Francis and a couple of children released two doves from his studio window in St. Peter's Square to disastrous results , the Vatican chose today to instead release balloons in the name of peace. The doves tradition begun by Pope John Paul II bit the dust...

Santorum: 'Very Difficult' to Listen to Pope

Ex-senator didn't like pontiff's statements on Catholics breeding 'like rabbits'

(Newser) - Pope Francis likely wasn't referring specifically to Rick Santorum when he said Monday that there was no need for Catholics to breed "like rabbits" —but the ex-Pennsylvania senator and past/possibly future US presidential contender didn't like what he heard. "It's sometimes very difficult to...

Pope Francis: Big Families Are Good
Pope Francis: Big Families
Are Good
Jan 21, 2015 6:59 AM CST

Pope Francis: Big Families Are Good

Softens his comment that Catholics needn't breed 'like rabbits'

(Newser) - Pope Francis praised big families today as a gift from God, after his comments that Catholics don't have to breed "like rabbits" made headlines this week. Francis said numerous children don't cause poverty in the developing world, as some have suggested, and that the real cause of...

Pope: There's No Need to Breed 'Like Rabbits'

Catholics have plenty of 'licit' ways to regulate births

(Newser) - After this colorful metaphor , an equally colorful simile from Pope Francis: While the pontiff firmly upholds church teaching banning contraception, he today said that Catholics don't have to breed "like rabbits" and should instead practice "responsible parenting." Speaking to reporters en route home from the Philippines,...

John Paul Who? Record 6M Turn Out for Francis

Philippine streets jammed for pope's final day in Asia as rain pours

(Newser) - A record 6 million people poured into Manila's rain-soaked streets and its biggest park today as Pope Francis ended his Asian pilgrimage with an appeal for Filipinos to protect their young from sin and vice so they can become missionaries of the faith. The Vatican received the figure officially...

Pope Dons Rain Poncho, Visits Typhoon Survivors

But Francis has to leave Philippines early because of another storm

(Newser) - Pope Francis traveled to the far eastern Philippines to comfort survivors of devastating Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, but had to cut his own trip short because of another approaching storm. In a windy and rainy morning Mass with a crowd that included Haiyan survivors, he conceded it was hard to...

Pope on Free Speech: Curse My Mom and Get Punched

Francis says free speech has its limits

(Newser) - Freedom of expression has its limits, and those limits include the pope's mama and poking the faith of others. Aboard the papal plane ahead of his trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis addressed the Charlie Hebdo attack by way of pointing to the man at his side, saying, "...

Francis to Moms: It's Cool, Nurse Babies in Sistine

Pontiff baptizes 33 infants, again tells mothers to feed if they're hungry

(Newser) - Pope Francis has baptized 33 babies in the Sistine Chapel as part of an annual tradition, this year repeating an invitation to mothers to nurse their babies if crying out of hunger. Francis pronounced each baby's name and poured water from a golden shell-shaped cup on to their foreheads...

Filipino Cops to Wear Diapers During Pope's Visit

Plan to keep bathroom runs at bay has been 'well received,' Manila official says

(Newser) - Pope Francis will be visiting the Philippines next week, and the country's traffic enforcement officers are on the ready—diapers and all. Francis Tolentino, the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, says that the 2,000-strong traffic team on duty during the Jan. 15-19 visit will be made...

Francis Picks 15 New 'Princes' From All Over

New cardinals hail from 14 nations, reflecting the church's diversity

(Newser) - Pope Francis named 15 new cardinals today, selecting them from 14 nations, including far-flung corners of the world such as Tonga, New Zealand, Cape Verde, and Myanmar, to reflect the diversity of the church and its growth in places like Asia and Africa. Other cardinals hail from Ethiopia, Thailand, and...

Francis Condemns ISIS' 'Brutal Persecution'

Derides 'contemporary Herods' with blood on their hands

(Newser) - Pope Francis focused his second Christmas address on the "so many tears" being shed on Christianity's biggest holiday, blasting in particular the "brutal persecution" being suffered at the hands of the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. "I ask him, the savior of the world,...

Pope Knocks Vatican's 'Spiritual Alzheimer's'

Pontiff describes 15 'ailments' in Christmas speech

(Newser) - Speaking to cardinals, bishops, and priests during his yearly Christmas speech, Pope Francis offered up a harsh critique of Vatican practices. Francis described 15 "ailments" within the church administration known as the Curia—ailments he's seeking to remedy next year, the BBC reports. Among his concerns are "...

Pope Gives Sleeping Bags to Homeless for His Birthday

Pontiff handed out 400 sleeping bags to Rome's destitute to celebrate his 78th

(Newser) - Pope Francis spent his birthday last year by going to church with four homeless locals . This year he upped the ante, celebrating his 78th birthday on Wednesday by donating 400 sleeping bags—complete with an imprinted papal coat of arms—to homeless people around Rome, ABC News reports. Volunteers and...

Nope, Pope Francis Didn't Say Dogs Were Going to Heaven

Though some think he at least left open the possibility

(Newser) - Pope Francis endeared himself to animal lovers this week after he was widely quoted as saying that dogs and other animals can go to heaven. Turns out, it was a different pope who said that. The confusion seems to stem from a misleading headline in an Italian newspaper, explains Religion...

Francis to ISIS: Leave Christians Alone

Pope wraps up visit to Turkey, makes statement with Orthodox patriarch

(Newser) - Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq today and called for dialogue with Muslims, capping Francis' three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity. Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew...

Pope: Europe Is 'Elderly and Haggard'

Francis warns EU that it risks 'losing its own soul'

(Newser) - Pope Francis has been rather nice to gays and atheists , but Europe, look out. The Wall Street Journal reports that the pope took Europe to task today during a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, calling the continent "elderly and haggard" and "no longer fertile and...

Pope: Kids Deserve a Mom and Dad

They have a 'right' to that type of family, he says

(Newser) - Despite a recent move toward embracing non-traditional families , Pope Francis said yesterday that "children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother." He made the remark during the Complementarity of Man and Woman conference, a "gathering of global religious conservatives"...

Coming to America: Pope Francis

Pontiff confirms he'll visit Philly next September

(Newser) - A pontiff who has long championed human kindness is coming to the City of Brotherly Love. Pope Francis confirmed today that he will make his first papal visit to the United States with a trip to Philadelphia next September for the World Meeting of Families. Francis' announcement, at an interreligious...

After Man Tells Bishop He Smells, Vatican Takes Action

3 public showers to be installed

(Newser) - Pope Francis made headlines last year when he said that he would like a "poor church, and for the poor." Now, after a man declined an invitation to dine with a bishop because, the man said simply, "puzzo"—or "I smell"—the pope is...

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