pope

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Pope Is Sick for Third Day After Supporting Coronavirus Sufferers

Pope Francis has a 'slight indisposition,' the Vatican says

(Newser) - Pope Francis canceled official engagements for the third day in a row Saturday as he battled an apparent cold, the AP reports. The 83-year-old pope, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has never canceled so many official audiences or events in his...

Francis Makes Surprise Decision on Married Priests

Pope has rejected ordaining married men in remote areas of South America

(Newser) - Late last year, Pope Francis gave hints that he might be open to the ordination of married men, letting them become priests in far-flung parts of the world like the Amazon region, after bishops representing indigenous areas made this push . Now, however, that idea has been officially quashed: The pontiff...

Hoping for a Pope Fight? One Just Took a Step Back

Benedict has name removed as co-author from controversial pro-priesthood celibacy book

(Newser) - If you were hoping that there'd be a bona fide public bickering between Pope Francis and his predecessor, you may have to tamp down your expectations. The current pope has reportedly been mulling whether to allow married men to become priests in some cases, and news broke this week...

Pope to Change Church Teaching: Nukes Are 'Immoral'

Francis warns that an 'accident of possession' or 'insanity of a leader can destroy humanity'

(Newser) - Pope Francis is planning to change official Catholic Church teaching to declare the use and possession of atomic weapons as "immoral," a move that makes clear that his rejection of the Cold War-era doctrine of deterrence is to be official church policy. Francis had declared the possession of...

He Was Once a Slave. Now He May Become a Saint

Pope deems Augustus Tolton, America's first black Roman Catholic priest, 'venerable'

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Wednesday deemed the first known black Roman Catholic priest in the US to be "venerable," positioning the ex-slave for possible sainthood. The pontiff's designation of the Rev. Augustus Tolton as venerable, meaning the church intensely scrutinized his life and recognizes it as one of...

Pope Weighs In on Abortion: It's Never Acceptable

Francis made remarks at Vatican on Saturday

(Newser) - Pope Francis says abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or malformed, and he's urging doctors and priests to support families to carry such pregnancies to term, the AP reports. During an audience Saturday with participants of a Vatican-sponsored anti-abortion conference, Francis said opposition...

Pope at Sex Abuse Summit: 'Listen to Cry of Little Ones'

Skeptics hope his vow for 'concrete and efficient measures' isn't an empty one

(Newser) - "Simple and predictable condemnations" aren't what's needed to fight sex abuse within the Catholic Church; "concrete and efficient measures" are. That's according to Pope Francis, who kicked off on Thursday a four-day global summit on the matter in Rome in front of nearly 200 bishops,...

Pope Makes 'Almost Revolutionary' Move Against Ex-Cardinal

Theodore McCarrick has been defrocked by Pope Francis

(Newser) - Cardinal Donald Wuerl may have forgotten about sexual abuse allegations against his predecessor, but Pope Francis didn't. The New York Times reports that word has been handed down from the top: Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington, DC, has been defrocked. "The Holy Father has recognized the...

Pope's Shocker on Nuns: 'Sexual Slavery,' Forced Abortions

'Do we have to do more? Yes. Are we willing? Yes.'

(Newser) - A shocking first emerged from the pope on Tuesday: admission of more sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, this time of nuns at the hands of male clergy. The New York Times notes it's the first time the pontiff has publicly recognized the church's very own #MeToo issue,...

Pope Who Says He's a Tech 'Disaster' Has a New App

'Click to Pray' lets users keep on top of pontiff's prayers, as well as add their own

(Newser) - First we had a drive-thru for Ash Wednesday ; now there's a Pope Francis-sponsored app for praying. The pontiff who once called himself a techie "disaster" launched "Click to Pray" on Sunday, a six-language app for both Android and iPhone that he hopes will keep Catholic constituents around...

Kim Jong Un to Pope: Come Visit Me in North Korea

A visit is considered 'highly unlikely,' though S. Korea's Moon Jae-in will still deliver the invite

(Newser) - Moon Jae-in will visit the Vatican next week, and the South Korean leader will go bearing a special invite for Pope Francis. The New York Times reports Moon will serve as the messenger for Kim Jong Un, who's requesting that the pontiff pay him a visit in North Korea....

Pope Makes Big Doctrine Change on an 'Inhuman Recourse'

Francis says death penalty is always 'inadmissible'

(Newser) - Pope Francis has changed church teaching about the death penalty, saying in a new policy published Thursday it's always "inadmissible" because it "attacks" the inherent dignity of all humans. The Vatican says Francis has approved a change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church , the compilation of...

A Martyr's Bone Was Plucked From the Sea, Then the Trash

Bone fragment said to be that of St. Clement handed over to Westminster Cathedral

(Newser) - St. Clement was said to have been put to death by being tied to a boat anchor and drowned. Just shy of 2,000 years later, what's believed to be a piece of one of his bones has been presented to Westminster Cathedral. The path from there to here...

Gay Abuse Victim Spoke to Pope. Francis' Words Were 'Forceful'

Juan Carlos Cruz said Francis told him: 'God made you like this and loves you like this'

(Newser) - While religious conservatives have long argued being gay is a choice and even a "disorder," Pope Francis has been known to push back on those arguments, most famously with his 2013 statement : "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" Now...

Teens Help Crack Vatican's Secret Archives

In Codice Ratio aims to put it all online

(Newser) - Wish you could access the Vatican's Secret Archives online? Sorry, it's not there—but a new project combining artificial intelligence with optical-character-recognition (OCR) could change that, the Atlantic reports. Called In Codice Ratio , it aims to scan the archives' 53 miles of shelved material dating back some 1,...

On Francis' 5th Anniversary, Ex-Pope Sticks Up for Pontiff

Benedict XVI says it's 'foolish prejudice' to say dogma under Francis is 'adrift'

(Newser) - Pope Francis marked his fifth anniversary as pope Tuesday by receiving votes of confidence from his predecessor and from the current Vatican No. 2—as well as faithful around the globe—seeking to rebut criticism about his reform-minded papacy and encouraging him to push the envelope even further, per the...

Pope's New Year's Message: Dump Life's 'Useless Baggage'

Francis also told congregants: 'Do not extinguish' hopes of migrants, refugees

(Newser) - Jan. 1 isn't just New Year's Day for the Roman Catholic Church. It's also the World Day of Peace , and Pope Francis used the occasion Monday to remind 40,000 congregants at St. Peter's Square about the plight of one of the world's "weakest...

Pope: Deliver Us From Bad Translation of Lord's Prayer

Francis wants to reword 'lead us not into temptation' line

(Newser) - The concept of temptation, and avoiding it, is something all Roman Catholics are made to confront throughout their liturgical lives. But Pope Francis is now saying if you feel that irresistible pull toward that which you shouldn't do, don't blame God for it. Specifically, per Reuters , the pontiff...

Pope Francis Rips 'Very Ugly Thing' He Sees at Mass

Specifically, worshippers with their cellphones

(Newser) - When the priest says "lift up your hearts" during Mass, you'd better put your cellphone down while you do it. That was Pope Francis' message Wednesday during his weekly address in St. Peter's Square, calling it a "very ugly thing" to see worshippers—even other men...

Pope: Female Psychotherapist Helped 'Clarify Some Things'

Francis saw her when he was 42, back when he was just plain old Jorge Bergoglio

(Newser) - Pope Francis says that when he was 42 he had sessions weekly with a psychoanalyst who was female and Jewish to "clarify some things." It wasn't specified what the future pontiff wanted to explore, the AP notes. The revelation came in a dozen conversations Francis had with...

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