DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Pope Francis is ordaining 16 priests during a Mass in Bangladesh, the start of a busy day that will also bring him face-to-face with Rohingya Muslims refugees from Myanmar. An estimated 100,000 people gathered Friday in a Dhaka park for the service, which mirrors the ordination Mass St. John Paul II … Continue reading
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Pope Francis opened a diplomatically fraught trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday by immediately diving into the crisis over Myanmar’s crackdown on Rohingya Muslims: He met with the country’s military chief, even before beginning the official program of his trip. The Vatican didn’t provide details of the contents of Francis’ … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Latest on the Vatican nuclear conference (all times local): 7:00 p.m. A top NATO official is defending the alliance’s opposition to a new U.N. treaty calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller told a Vatican disarmament conference Friday that the treaty could undermine years … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday joined the chorus of shock over the car bomb slaying of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, sending a note expressing his condolences Friday to the overwhelmingly Catholic island nation. Popes often send telegrams of condolences after deadly natural disasters or the deaths of prominent world leaders. … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday launched a two-year education campaign about the plight of migrants to counteract mounting anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, urging the world: “Don’t be afraid!” Francis posed for selfies, shook hands, kissed babies and hugged migrants at the end of his weekly general audience, teaching by … Continue reading
CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — Pope Francis wrapped up his Colombia trip with a deeply personal final day Sunday honoring St. Peter Claver, a fellow Jesuit who ministered to hundreds of thousands of African slaves who arrived in the port of Cartagena to be sold during Spanish colonial times. Francis’ visit to Cartagena got off to … Continue reading
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Pope Francis headed to Colombia on Wednesday to try to help heal the wounds of Latin America’s longest-running armed conflict, bolstered by a new cease-fire with a holdout rebel group but fully aware of the fragility of the country’s peace process. During a deeply symbolic five-day visit starting Wednesday, Francis is … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from a landmark global climate agreement, a White House official said Wednesday, though Trump and aides were looking for “caveats in the language” related to the exit and had not made a final decision. Leaving the deal would fulfill a central campaign … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s first trip abroad (all times local): 4:12 p.m. President Donald Trump arrived in Brussels Wednesday afternoon ahead of meetings with NATO leaders. Trump was harshly critical of NATO as a candidate, declaring the military alliance “obsolete.” He’s also criticized member countries for not following NATO … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis embraced weeping mothers, fathers and children with Huntington’s Disease on Thursday as he sought to remove the stigma of an incurable genetic disorder that causes such devastating physical and psychiatric effects that its sufferers are often shunned and abandoned. One by one, Francis blessed and greeted each of the … Continue reading
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis urged young people to lead the church’s future Saturday, April 8, even as he voiced doubts that he’d be around much longer to see it. The 80-year-old pope referred to his own mortality twice in the span of a few minutes during a vigil service to rally enthusiasm for the … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is showing his profound concern for refugees by assuming direct responsibility for migrant issues in a new Vatican department that merges four Vatican offices into one handling peace, the environment and human trafficking issues. The Vatican issued the statutes Wednesday for the new Vatican dicastery, which puts the pontifical … Continue reading
ROME (AP) — One of Pope Francis’ top advisers acknowledged he had heard that an Australian Catholic school teacher who serially abused students might be involved in “pedophilia activity” in the 1970s, but said he had no idea how rampant clergy abuse was at the time, during an extraordinary public hearing of an Australian … Continue reading
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis says even popes need women and can sustain “healthy, holy” friendships with them. Francis was asked en route home from Mexico on Wednesday about reports of a close friendship between St. John Paul II and a philosopher, Anna Teresa Tymieniecka, that emerged from their correspondence. Officials at … Continue reading
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Pope Francis wrapped up a five-day visit to Mexico with a message of love and compassion for the people of Mexico and the migrants who pass through it on their way to the United States. For their political and religious leaders, the trip was more a lesson in tough love. … Continue reading
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Pope Francis warned Thursday that it would be “catastrophic” for world leaders to let special interest groups get in the way of a global agreement to curb fossil fuel emissions as he brought his environmental message to the heart of Africa on the eve of crucial climate change talks in Paris. … Continue reading
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Gay activists are hoping Pope Francis will preach tolerance toward homosexuals, and even go so far as to condemn violent attacks against gays during his upcoming visit to Uganda. Church leaders, however, are praying he’ll avoid the issue altogether. The divergent expectations underscore the acrimonious state of the gay rights debate … Continue reading
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Using hooks or their bare hands, men, women and children traipse through the murky sludge that pools around the mountains of garbage, hunting for bottles, plastic bags and anything else that can be recycled to earn themselves enough for their daily bread. The scavengers at Nairobi’s notorious Dandora dump are some … Continue reading
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s president announced on Wednesday that he would bestow medals on the 19 people killed during an assault at a luxury hotel in the capital last week, as funerals were held for three of its employees. “All Malians are moved today,” Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said while announcing the awarding of the … Continue reading
NAMUGONGO, Uganda (AP) — More than 2 million people are expected to converge near a minor basilica in the Ugandan capital where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass on Saturday, an official with the Roman Catholic Church here said Monday even as workers put in extra hours to spruce up the shrine. The shrine is undergoing … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The family of a suburban Philadelphia boy with cerebral palsy, famously blessed by Pope Francis upon his arrival to the City of Brotherly Love, has received nearly $100,000 in support through crowdfunding. The Washington Post reports (http://wapo.st/1QnIY7u ) the Keating family, in need of a new van, was urged by relatives to … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh from successes on Iran and with the pope, President Barack Obama still carried heavy burdens heading into critical meetings this week at the U.N. General Assembly. They included the threat from Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Syrian civil war and the ensuing refugee crisis, and … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pope Francis and an admiring throng of thousands enjoyed a little music from the Queen of Soul, Andrew Bocelli and others at the end of his first day in Philadelphia on his first-ever U.S. tour. Aretha Franklin led an all-star lineup at the Festival of Families, one of the events organized by … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Within an hour of the start of a festival headlined by Pope Francis, Mark Wahlberg already had made a joke about his raunchy movie “Ted.” The actor was the master of ceremonies Saturday night while Francis sat on stage to hear from families and musical performances at the World Meeting of Families … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — The latest developments in Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba and the United States. All times local: 9:30 p.m. Pope Francis has retired to the residence of the papal ambassador after a busy day in Havana. He is due to fly to the eastern city of Holguin at 8 a.m. Monday to begin … Continue reading
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