Tag: Pope

Al-Rahi happy breach with Gulf states healed

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday expressed relief over three developments that took place over the past days – the announcement that Pope Francis will visit Lebanon in June, Lebanon’s tentative deal with the International Monetary Fund, and the return of the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors to Beirut. “These positive steps coincide with important regional […]

Vatican encourages Al-Rahi to 'modify' rhetoric over Hezbollah

The Vatican has informed Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi of the need to “modify” his rhetoric regarding the relation with Hizbullah, al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to the group, has quoted unnamed sources as saying. The Holy See asked al-Rahi to “restore communication” with Hizbullah, telling him that “a rupture is not favored, even if there […]

Vatican envoy charges Lebanese elite with profiting from crises

A Vatican envoy criticized Lebanon’s politicians on his visit to Beirut on Tuesday, calling for an end to “the few profiting of the suffering of many” in a financial crisis which has plunged the bulk of the country into poverty. Archbishop Paul Gallagher’s remarks come one week after the World Bank blasted Lebanon’s ruling class […]

Trump, Pope Francis and some Good News

Journal Entry July 29, 2021“Great Rest in Great Hope.” Silvio Gesell It is a beautiful summer day.There is a light breeze in the air.The Air Magic *is stirring up some movementand giving more lifeto this important Missionto declare demurrage on the US dollar.* Conversation Today I hand-delivered,(it is the surest method for me these days)a […]

Protests break out in Iraq ahead of Pope's visit

At least five protesters were killed and more than 175 people injured on Friday in clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, a Reuters witness and other sources said. Among the fatalities, most died from bullet wounds, a hospital source said, adding that about 120 protesters were wounded. At […]

Pope Francis wants immediate end to war in Syria

Pope Francis has called for the war in Syria to end, noting that 2021 marks its 10th anniversary. In an audience with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican, the leader of the Catholic Church also confirmed that his visit to Iraq, beginning on March 5, will mark the restart of his apostolic travels, which […]

International Human Fraternity summit condemns social media

Societies are diverse things by nature, composed of individuals with varying ideals and attributes who agree on an arrangement of coexistence around a shared set of values. It stands to reason there will be disagreements from time to time. However, if societies lose this sense of fraternity, they can come apart at the seams. One […]

Vatican angry at US, Israel over annexation plan

The Vatican, in a highly unusual move, summoned both the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to express the Holy See’s concern about Israel’s moves to extend its sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. A Vatican statement on Wednesday said meetings with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and […]

COVID-19 ruins Good Friday in Jerusalem

On an eerie Good Friday in Jerusalem, a handful of Franciscan friars - some wearing face masks - commemorated Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection along a Via Dolorosa in lockdown and empty of pilgrims. They walked the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the centrepiece of Christian celebrations of Easter where, […]

Pope Francis calls for peace and mercy in Sudan

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for peace in Sudan following a bloody crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum last week. “The news coming from Sudan is giving rise to pain and concern. We pray for these people, so that the violence ceases and the common good is sought in the dialogue,” the […]

Pope Francis Did Not Say Hell Does Not Exist: Vatican

Call it fake news, or maybe just wishful thinking. A Thursday story claiming that Pope Francis had denied the existence of hell spread like, well, hellfire. In an alleged interview for Italian journal La Repubblica, the pope told atheist journalist Eugenio Scalfari that bad souls “are not punished” and that “There is no hell, there […]

Pope shakes up Vatican by replacing conservative doctrinal chief

In a major shake-up of the Vatican's administration on Saturday, Pope Francis replaced Catholicism's top theologian, a conservative German cardinal who has been at odds with the pontiff's vision of a more inclusive Church. A brief Vatican statement said Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller's five-year mandate as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the […]

Top papal adviser charged with sexual assault in blow to Vatican

Australian police charged a top adviser to Pope Francis with multiple historical sex crimes on Thursday, in a case that poses a dilemma for a pontiff who has vowed zero tolerance for such offences. Cardinal George Pell is the Vatican's de facto treasury minister and is the highest-ranking Vatican official to be charged with sexual […]

Pope decries war, terrorism and weapons as he condemns Egypt blast

By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis condemned a deadly blast at a church in Egypt and said at a Palm Sunday Mass that the world was suffering from wars, terrorism and "interests that are armed and ready to strike". Francis, who has not made any direct public comment on the current Middle East […]

Pope Francis' Meeting With Syrian Refugees

The Levant - - "There are wars, refugees who are escaping in this wave of migration away from wars," Pope Francis on Saturday told reporters aboard the plane taking him from Rome to Havana to start his nine-day trip to Cuba and the United States. Pop described how he became emotional when he met the family of […]

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Al-Rahi says easier dealing with Israel than fellow government

Ceasefire brokered between Gaza and Israel