Tag Archives: Vatican

Graham Hails Vatican For Stance On “Sinful” Gay Unions

Posted to Franklin Graham’s Facebook page: It’s good to see that the Vatican got this right. They issued a statement barring the blessing of same-sex unions. Why? Because “[God] does not and cannot bless sin.” They are right. Gay people deserve respect and dignity like everyone does, but we cannot condone actions that are contrary to the teachings of God’s …

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Vatican: Priests Cannot Bless “Sinful” Same-Sex Unions

Reuters reports: The Vatican said on Monday that priests and other Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are “not licit” if carried out. The Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued the ruling in response to questions and moves in some parishes to impart such blessings as a sign …

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Pope Francis Visits Iraq Under Massive Security [VIDEO]

NPR reports: Pope Francis has touched down in Iraq for the first-ever papal visit to the predominantly Muslim country, beginning a four-day visit in Baghdad, where yellow and white Vatican flags and likenesses of the pontiff flutter above hastily weeded traffic circles. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi welcomed Francis at Baghdad International Airport. He was greeted with fanfare as he stepped …

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Ex-Pope Benedict Rips “Conspiracy Theory Fanatics”

Reuters reports: Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign as “fanatical”, telling them that there is only one pope and it is Francis. Benedict, now 93, in 2013 became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength …

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Two Top Vatican Cardinals Test Positive For COVID

The Catholic Review reports: Two top Vatican officials — Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello — have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Italian media reported, and a Vatican source confirmed. Cardinal Krajewski, the 57-year-old papal almoner, was tested at the Vatican health clinic early Dec. 21 and was hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli hospital with the initial signs of …

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Vatican: The Fetus Vaccine Is “Morally Acceptable”

ABC News reports: The Vatican on Monday declared that it is “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used fetal tissue from abortions. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s watchdog office for doctrinal orthodoxy, said it addressed the question after receiving several requests for “guidance” during recent months. The doctrine …

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Ex-Vatican Envoy Guilty Of Sexual Assaults On Men

The Associated Press reports: A Paris court on Wednesday convicted a former Vatican ambassador to France of sexually assaulting five men in 2018 and 2019, and handed him a suspended 8-month prison sentence. Retired Archbishop Luigi Ventura, 76 — who was not present in court — was “shattered” by the verdict, according to his lawyer, Solange Doumic. Ventura has repeatedly …

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Pope Francis Congratulates Biden In Phone Call

Forbes reports: Pope Francis on Thursday became the latest in a string of world leaders congratulating Joe Biden on his projected victory in the 2020 election, even as President Trump and a handful of world leaders have refused to acknowledge him as President-elect. Biden had a phone call with Pope Francis Thursday morning, during which he “thanked His Holiness for …

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Vatican Edited Out Pope’s “Civil Unions” Comments In Original Interview But Filmmaker Got The Raw Footage

The New York Times reports: The Vatican had required that the interview be filmed with Vatican cameras and that the Vatican be given control over the footage. The Vatican cut out the pope’s remarks on same-sex unions in the edited version provided to Televisa, the two people said. Gone was this comment from the pope: “What we have to create …

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Person Who Lives In Pope’s Vatican Hotel Tests COVID+

The Associated Press reports: The Vatican says someone who lives in the same Vatican hotel as Pope Francis has tested positive for coronavirus, adding to the 11 cases of COVID-19 among the Swiss Guards who protect him. The Vatican said Saturday that the resident of the Domus Sanctae Marthae has moved out temporarily and is in isolation, as are all …

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Vatican Begins Its First Clergy Sex Abuse Trial [VIDEO]

ABC News reports: For the first time, a clergy sex abuse trial opened Wednesday in the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, with one priest accused of molesting an altar boy in the Vatican’s youth seminary and another priest accused of covering it up. The case concerns the closed world of the St. Pius X youth seminary, a palazzo inside the Vatican walls …

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Vatican Denies Pompeo’s Request To Meet With Pope

Reuters reports: The Vatican said on Wednesday it had denied a request from Mike Pompeo for an audience with Pope Francis, and accused the Secretary of State of trying to drag the Catholic Church into the U.S. presidential election by denouncing its relations with China. The extraordinary remarks from the two top diplomatic officials at the Vatican came after Pompeo …

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Pope Francis: God Loves LGBT Children “As They Are”

The Jesuit magazine America reports: Pope Francis told a group of parents of L.G.B.T. children yesterday that “God loves your children as they are” and “the church loves your children as they are because they are children of God.” He did so in a brief encounter with some 40 Italian parents (both mothers and fathers) of L.G.B.T. children after the …

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US Bishop-Elect Resigns Over Molestation Allegations

Reuters reports: An American bishop-elect has resigned just weeks before he was due to start the job, following an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor, Catholic Church officials said on Monday. Father Michel Mulloy, 66, was appointed by Pope Francis on June 19 to be bishop of Duluth, Minnesota and was due to be formally installed in a …

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Pope: Gossiping Is A “Plague Worse Than COVID”

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis said Sunday that gossiping is a “plague worse than COVID” that is seeking to divide the Catholic Church. Francis strayed from his prepared text to double down on his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy. Francis went on at some length to say the devil is the …

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Pope Francis: The Rich Shouldn’t Get COVID Vax First

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis on Wednesday warned against any prospect that rich people would get priority for a coronavirus vaccine. “The pandemic is a crisis. You don’t come out of it the same — either better or worse,″ Francis said, adding improvised remarks to his planned speech for his weekly public audience. “We must come out better” from …

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Vatican Calls For Catholics To Divest Fossil Fuel Stocks

Reuters reports: The Vatican urged Catholics on Thursday to disinvest from the armaments and fossil fuel industries and to closely monitor companies in sectors such as mining to check if they are damaging the environment. The calls were contained in a 225-page manual for church leaders and workers to mark the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical “Laudato Si” …

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Pope Francis To US: “Don’t Turn A Blind Eye To Racism”

Reuters reports: In his first public remarks on the U.S. protests, Pope Francis urged people not to “tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form” and called for “national reconciliation and peace.” “Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these …

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REPORT: Vatican Cash-Strapped Due To Pandemic

Reuters reports: Late last month, the Vatican announced the coronavirus pandemic had forced Pope Francis to postpone an annual fund raising campaign among Catholics worldwide to help him carry out his ministry. The delay of “Peter’s Pence” by more than three months to the first weekend in October has come at a particularly bad time, as other revenues, notably from …

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Ex-Pope Links Gay Marriage To “Power Of Antichrist”

The New York Daily News reports: The 93-year-old ex-pope has an authorized biography out in Germany this week, which ends with an interview between Benedict and the journalist Peter Seewald. In the exchange, Benedict sharply attacked gay marriage, abortion and scientific methods of conception. “Modern society is in the middle of formulating an anti-Christian creed,” he said. “The fear of …

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