Pope Francis will preach humility and fraternity in the spirit of his namesake St. Francis of Assisi. Can he make it relevant in the 21st century?
Category: The Next Pope
They are neither anti-religious rebels nor feminist iconoclasts, but three nuns and a Catholic theologian. Here’s how they think Pope Francis should face the female question.
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– Pope Francis is his name, and Church watchers all seem to agree that this is a signal that a central them of the new papacy will be caring for the needy – needy humans, that is. But history also tells us that the inspiration for the Pope’s name, St. […]
They were just 12, and her father didn’t approve of their childhood love. Sixty-five years later, she watched him step onto St. Peter’s balcony as Pope Francis.
Worldcrunch ROME– What do get when you mix a rugby match and a marathon with the patron saint of Ireland and an Argentine Pope? Endless eternal city traffic jams, for sure. Holy chaos? Well, we’ll see. Here is the once-in-a-lifetime agenda for Rome this Sunday. MARATHON milky.way There are an estimated 100,000 people — including […]
And a Peronist to boot!
-Analysis- VATICAN CITY – As it turned out, there was a hidden candidate right there in front of us. This explains the rapidity of the conclave, which was almost as fast as the one that elected Joseph Ratzinger eight years ago. When he took the floor last week during the pre-conclave General Congregation meetings, sources […]
Worldcrunch Masses of Catholics and non-Catholics alike tuned in for the announcement and appearance of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Supreme Roman Pontiff. It was a singular media moment that was watched, listened to, shared, tweeted — and won’t soon be forgotten. There is still much to learn about the 76-year-old Argentine, and […]
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The new Pope and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner have faced off over gay marriage. But tensions date back to the presidency of her deceased husband President Nestor Kirchner.
The native of Buenos Aires, who rose to be its Archbishop, prefers the subway to limousines — ‘villas miserias’ to ecclesiastical sophistication. The name he took evokes a closeness with those who suffer most.
VATICAN CITY– After the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI, the calls to find a strong administrator to reform the governance of the Church, days of speculation and two rounds of black smoke…the white smoke came after the cardinals chose a new leader for the Catholic Church known for his humility, and notably the first pontiff […]
Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St Peter’s Basilica pealed, on Wednesday, heralding the election of a new pope. Watch live feed from St Peter’s Square: Click here for Worldcrunch’s special papal coverage.
Reforming a broken Vatican is important, but the true job of the Roman pontiff is to proclaim the Gospel. Is Pope Francis, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, that man?
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– The second round of black smoke puffed out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Wednesday morning, meaning no luck so far for the 115 cardinals gathered inside to choose a successor to Benedict XVI. At 11:38 a.m. local time the smoke emerged, revealing no pope has yet been chosen. The […]
How long the conclave lasts is often an indicator of who is likely to walk out as Pope. The favorites are typically elected quickly, and deadlocks can lead to a surprise compromise candidate.
Thinking beyond the top “papabili,” some have cited Cardinal Bechara al-Rahi, the Patriarch of Antioch. For the Church, the plight of Christians in the Middle East is a key issue of our times.
Worldcrunch When that moment comes, and the white smoke appears and the bells of St. Peter’s toll, the crowd out in the piazza will start to get rowdy. Then an elderly Cardinal will announce that “We Have A Pope” in the Catholic Church’s still beloved Latin. Habemus Papam…! And that’s when the fun really starts. […]
Press blackout be damned, Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis spoke with Folha de S. Paolo about papal candidates, including fellow Brazilian Scherer. Assis expects a short conclave, but is packed for a long one.
AP, BBC TWITTER Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – In a solemn ceremony, 115 cardinal-electors gathered in Rome to choose the new Pope celebrated the traditional pre-conclave mass on Tuesday morning just hours before entering the Sistine Chapel to cast their first ballots for the next pontiff. The surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the first in […]
Benedict XVI himself said Africa deserves to be considered for the papacy.
EL DIARIO, SEXENIO (Mexico), LA PRENSA (Honduras), LA VOZ (Argentina), LAVANGUARDIA (Spain) Worldcrunch Latin America’s time has come. The papacy is ours for the taking. Strong candidates walking into the conclave, and more than 40% of the world’s Catholics come from this region. This is exactly what Latin America’s faithful, and newspapers, were saying back […]
Worldcrunch With the conclave set to begin Tuesday afternoon, the lists of papabili are being narrowed down and scrutinized by the Cardinals gathered at the Vatican. Back in the home countries and dioceses of the top contenders, the secret vote to choose the successor of Benedict XVI can be viewed with a mix of pride […]
VATICAN CITY – Amidst intense speculation and great uncertainty over who will be the new pope, one thing appears certain: no matter who is chosen in the conclave, we should not expect substantial changes on doctrinal matters that have long left many Catholics around the world unhappy. We should expect the bans to continue on […]
Is Italy ready to take back the papacy after being shut out by the Polish John Paul II and Germany’s Benedict XVI? This truck driver’s son is the Italians’ best hope.
Worldcrunch The conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI will begin on Tuesday. Though the only preferences that count are of the 115 cardinals under the age of 80, the man they choose (yes, it must be a baptized male) will lead the flock of 1.16 billion Catholics around the world. So we […]
Most say the cardinals must shake up the Church. That gives better chances to electing a cardinal from South America… or North America.
ROME – Benedict XVI couldn’t have imagined this, because his thoughts were elsewhere: but the news of his resignation was met with cheers by thousands of people in Rome. Why? Because the resignation of a pope has the same effect as the Olympic Games or a Jubilee for the city of Rome: it brings tourists, […]
Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – The cardinals are meeting at the Vatican this week to lay the groundwork for the conclave to elect a new pope, after this month’s suprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. There is much on their agenda: determining Catholicism’s most pressing challenges, looking for the right man for the papal job, clarifying […]
LA STAMPA, GAZZETTA DEL SUD (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– The countdown to the conclave is on, and everyone seem to wants in on the action. Indeed one man dressed up as a bishop and headed to the Paul VI auditorium on Monday where the cardinals were meeting to discuss the date for the upcoming conclave, […]
The Holy See has said that the final report on the scandal plaguing the Vatican would only be delivered to the new pope. But some of those voting for the pontiff want to know the truth.
ROME – The Pope’s resignation is a unique event, although not entirely without historical precedent. Benedict XVI is retiring not in failure but as freely and serenely as Charles V — who wasn’t a pope but an emperor, and one of the West’s major rulers when he put down his crown on October 25, 1555. […]
VATICAN CITY – One of the cardinals getting ready to enter the upcoming conclave knows that he himself is not papabile — that is, his is not one of the names being considered as a possible next pope. Perhaps for this reason he has taken the time to lay out to La Stampa, in a […]
ASSOCIATED PRESS Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI became the first Roman pontiff in six centuries to step down, boarding a helicopter outside St. Peter’s on Thursday that took him to the Vatican retreat of Castel Gandolfo south of Rome where he will stay hidden from view for the forseeable future. Earlier, the Pope […]
VATICAN CITY – Nevermind the “courage, humility, respect and lucidity,” and the other praise we’ve heard associated with Pope Benedict XVI’s historic decision to step down, he leaves behind a papacy stained with failure and a deep feeling of something left incomplete. On some matters, the Pope’s decision is indeed a form of renunciation. “Purification” […]
LA STAMPA (Italy), VATICAN NEWS (Vatican), BBC (UK), Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– After a sometimes bumpy eight-year rule, and a surprise decision to become the first pope in 600 years to retire, Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy at 8 pm local time. Benedict met Thursday morning for the final time as pontiff with the […]
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, LA STAMPA, RAI NEWS, LA REPUBBLICA (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– Pope Benedict XVI presided over his final papal audience Wednesday before a crowd of some 200,000, reaffirming his own faith and a conviction that his historic decision to resign was for the good of the Church. Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported […]
BBC, THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE IRISH TIMES (Ireland) Worldcrunch EDINBURGH – Cardinal Kevin O’Brien has announced he will be stepping down as Archbishop of Edinburgh and St. Andrew’s following allegations of “inappropriate behavior” during the 1980s, reports the BBC. The announcement comes three days before Pope Benedict XVI is slated to step down, and Cardinals […]
The most alive of the dead languages is also getting a boost in some surprising corners outside the Vatican walls.
LA REPUBBLICA (Italy), VATICAN RADIO Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY– Just four days before his historic resignation, Pope Benedict XVI delivered his final weekly Angelus prayer Sunday from the window of his Vatican apartment. A large crowd below in St. Peter’s Square interrupted several times with applause during the brief address as the 85-year Benedict alluded to […]