Curia cleanup, abuses, Ukraine-Russia mediation, China. A month of pontificate as a litmus test of the Leo method.
Tag: pope
With the arrival of the new Pope, can we expect a new stance from the Catholic Church on the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people?
From Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin to Italian Prime Minister Meloni and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, intense maneuverings are underway to see if the peace process can be relaunched in Rome. There are both religious and judicial hurdles to overcome.
Die Zeit speaks with Father Lukas Schmidkunz, who has known Robert Provost for a long time, about the man who has become Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Leo XIV’s Latin American connections and first-hand familiarity with the lives of the poor in Peru, will likely reinforce his predecessor’s social vocation and vigorous concern for migrants. But that’s not the only way he expresses his Peruvian side.
In electing Pope Leo XIV, the institution of the Catholic Church appears quite clear about the place it should occupy beyond its spiritual commitment.
“HabemUS papam!” The global press covers the election of Chicago-born Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the first North American to be elected pope.
Italian novelist Viola Ardone reflects on childhood dreams, institutional patriarchy, and why the Catholic Church still silences women as 133 cardinals gather to elect the next pope.
In the last hours before the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, a negotiation between powerful Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Luis Tagle, a favorite of the Church’s progressive wing from the Philippines could unblock the election for the next Pope.
As the conclave approaches, Vatican intrigue intensifies, with Italian ambitions, global rivalries and conservative strategy shaping the next papal election.
Each cardinal brings strengths and weaknesses, but a Vatican insider tells La Stampa that it is now clear: more time is needed.
Pope Francis had a remarkable impact on the Vatican. In Poland, the last Catholic stronghold of Europe, Francis took action, forcing high-ranking officials in the Church to resign, and dismissing some altogether. For Poland, a country still reckoning with the impacts of Pope John Paul II, both positive and negative, Francis’s papacy held particular weight.
Right-wing authoritarians around the world are speculating on an opportunity: the next pope could be one of their own. It would provide much moral authority on a global stage.
One day after the announcement of Pope Francis’ death, the global press is paying hommage to the pontiff.
Pope Francis’s final days were marked by calls for mercy and solidarity, including a critical meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance over immigration policies. He dedicated his final energy to being with his flock for one last Easter Mass.
By most accounts, Pope Francis was close to death in his recent illness, before recovering. He said the experience was “brutto” bad. Just what did he mean by that? Should death be faced with obedience or resistance? Should we cling to life or welcome what comes next? Reflections from an Italian theologian.
The election of a new Pope, a mysterious UFO sighting, and the birth of a controversial figure.
While Latin America’s leftist leaders and even the Pope keep urging the West to give generously to the developing world to end poverty and curb migration, decades ago Asian states just “put on their big boy pants” to work their way to immense prosperity.
The birth of a famous rapper, the election of the only ever English pope, and a staple in hockey history.
Updated Oct. 10, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council on this day in 1962. What was Pope John XXIII’s significance in the Roman Catholic Church’s history? Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was the 261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, serving from 1958 until his death in […]
Updated October 4, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. The first Pope to visit the United States was Pope Paul VI happened on this day in 1965, and had significant political and religious implications. Who was Pope Paul VI? Pope Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Montini, was the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1963 to […]
While busy delivering the best international journalism, the Worldcrunch team also stumbles on a fair deal of downright strange stuff happening around the world, reported in every language.
Updated June 2, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. On this day in 1979, Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyła in Poland, visited his home country for the first time as pontiff, marking a crucial moment in Polish history. And beyond… Why was Pope John Paul II’s visit to Poland significant? Pope John Paul II’s visit […]
Updated May 13, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. Mehmet Ali Ağca attempted to kill Pope John Paul II on this day in 1981 in St. Peter’s Square. Who was Mehmet Ali Ağca? Mehmet Ali Ağca was a Turkish national who was a member of the extremist right-wing organization known as the Grey Wolves. Why did Mehmet […]
Updated April 2, 2024 at 12:20 p.m. Pope John Paul II died on this day in 2005, at the age of 84. Why was Pope John Paul II such a surprising choice? When Polish-born Karol Wojtyla was was elected on October 16, 1978, John Paul II became the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years. What […]
The Vatican may soon canonize the Mama Antula, an Argentine woman who started a spiritual movement at a time when religious intellectualism was strictly the domain the men.
Bogus images of angry dark-skinned men and bloodied blond women were quickly flagged as fakes, but the quality of the artificial intelligence is only bound to improve.
Seven months after Russia’s invasion, the Pope finally called on Vladimir Putin directly to stop the war. But just days earlier, Francis had offered an elaborate theory on the causes of the war, which he blamed on competing “imperialisms” of Russia and the West, and the need to have wars to sell weapons.
Some would like to paint the Argentine-born Pope Francis as a sympathizer of his native country’s leftist government. But his ‘socialist’ declarations are in line with more than a century of Church doctrine.
Proposed Italian legislation to punish public acts of homophobia continues to be blocked by both the Catholic Church and right-wing politicians. But the country’s most popular rapper has entered the debate.
Italy is once again murmuring about how Pope Francis was in therapy while serving as a priest in Argentina. It’s just another sign of Italians’ tendency to live in denial about hard questions around mental health.
Pope Francis, the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, has had a longstanding tolerance of and friendship for homosexuals, and yet rejection of marriage as anything other than a heterosexual institution.
Welcome to Friday, where an Amnesty International report accuses China of “crimes against humanity,” Israel’s government makes PETA animal activists happy and the Euro 2020 soccer competition kicks off after a one-year delay. Business daily Les Echos also reports on how hackers manage to use fake news to threaten big businesses and influence the stock […]
Welcome to Friday, where a shooting at a favela in Rio kills 25, the Pfizer jab shows promising results against COVID variants, and pizza vending machines arrive in Rome. We also look at how central banks are finally starting to take an interest in cryptocurrencies. • COVID-19: Pfizer vs. variants, pandemic Olympics: Two different studies […]
It is the most delicate of roles right now, as Father Georg continues to serve his original boss, retired Pope Benedict XVI, while also heading the Papal household of Pope Francis.
VATICAN CITY — While several Vatican buildings are embroiled in scandal, a few meters away from the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square the “Palazzo Migliori” is becoming a symbol of goodness and generosity. Pope Francis has effectively “donated” it to the poor. Various entrepreneurs were interested in acquiring it and transforming it into a five-star […]
A closer reading of the Pope’s recent treatise that challenges the way contemporary culture sees poverty in society.
The Argentine pontiff, used to navigating politics in Buenos Aires, is battling at a whole different level now. And his papacy may hang in the balance.
The major disgrace of America’s Catholic bishops was to foster a culture in which priests sexually assaulted children and were then sent on to new duties as their ungodly behavior was covered up. There is also a second failure. Thanks to the bishops, who are supposed to strengthen the faith, Catholics are now regularly asked: “How can you be a Catholic?” And, even more pointedly, “How can you stay?” This summer, these questions became much harder to answer. This is about the institution, not about whether to be a Christian. Christianity heroically preaches a devotion to the poor and the […]
The old, retired cardinal has had enough. He does not like what the Vatican is doing in China. He takes a plane and asks to be received by the pope. But instead of bringing it to an end, the encounter between the two men escalates the tensions around the Vatican’s pending agreement with China, a […]