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☆ Pope says Vatican involved in secret Ukraine peace mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Pope Francis holds a news conference as he returns to the Vatican following his apostolic journey to Hungary, aboard the plane, April 30, 2023. Vincenzo Pinto/Pool via REUTERSABOARD PAPAL PLANE, April 30 (Reuters) - The Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said on Sunday, declining to give further details. When it is public, I will reveal it," the pope told reporters during a flight home after a three-day visit to Hungary. Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met the pope at the Vatican on Thursday and said he had discussed a "peace formula" put forward by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Pope Francis, 86, has said previously that he wants to visit Kyiv but also Moscow on a peace mission.

☆ Pope Reveals He’s Working on Secret ‘Mission’ of Peace in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BUDAPEST — Pope Francis said on Sunday that the Vatican was involved in a secret “mission” to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine and that it would do “all that is humanly possible” to return children taken from Ukraine to Russia and reunite families. The pope’s remarks to reporters aboard the papal plane returning from a three-day trip to Budapest did not specify what the “not yet public” mission entailed. But Francis said he had privately discussed the situation with both Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary and with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest, Metropolitan Hilarion. “In these meetings we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood,” Francis said. He has opposed sending military aid to Ukraine and imposing international sanctions against Russia.

☆ Pope says the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Antonia Mortensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Vatican is part of a peace mission to end the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said Sunday. “The mission is in the course now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it,” Francis told reporters. Francis also heard testimony from refugees – many from Ukraine – and appealed to the importance of charity during his Budapest visit. On Sunday, the pontiff also told reporters that he was feeling better after being hospitalized in late March with a respiratory infection.

☆ Pope hopes Northern Ireland accord can be 'consolidated' to benefit all Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, April 10 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Monday he was praying that the Good Friday agreement signed 25 years ago that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland can be "consolidated" to benefit the people of all of Ireland. "Today marks the 25th anniversary of the so-called Good Friday agreement, or of Belfast, which brought an end to the violence that for decades troubled Northern Ireland," Francis said. Angry about post-Brexit trade rules that treated the province of Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest pro-British party, has boycotted the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal for more than a year. Last month, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack was considered highly likely. Additional reporting by Michael Holden in London; editing by John Stonestreet, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Screenshot showing Telegraph tweet on Pope Francis and AI is fabricated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An image purporting to show a tweet published by British newspaper The Telegraph seemingly reporting that Pope Francis said that artificial intelligence (AI) is a “means of communicating to God” is fabricated. A spokesperson for The Telegraph told Reuters that no such article was published. Instead, the spokesperson linked to an authentic article published by the outlet on March 12 with a headline that reads: “Priests may not have to be celibate in future, Pope Francis suggests” (here), (archive.is/v0Otg). A search through The Telegraph’s website did not reveal the headline claiming that the pope referred to AI as a means of “communicating to God” (www.telegraph.co.uk/search/). Reuters did not find any evidence that Pope Francis made any such remark (archive.is/wip/MaMi7).

☆ Pope Francis warns that the war in Ukraine is powered by competing 'empires' and 'arms industry'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis has said that a number of different empires are powering the war in Ukraine. Speaking on Swiss TV, he criticized the forces driving the war, as well as the arms industry. He said he'd offered to negotiate peace with Putin at the beginning of the war but was rebuffed. Pope Francis said he would like to engage in peace talks with President Putin. Writing on Twitter on the anniversary of Putin's invasion, Pope Francis said, "Let us remain close to the battered Ukrainian people who continue to suffer and ask ourselves: has everything possible been done to stop the war?

☆ Pope says Ukraine war fuelled not just by 'Russian empire'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, March 10 (Reuters) - The war in Ukraine is driven by the interests of several "empires" and not just of Russia's, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday. Francis said the conflict was fuelled by "imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere". He expressed a readiness to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for peace. Extracts were published on Friday by Italian dailies La Repubblica, La Stampa and Corriere della Sera. I have less physical resistance, the knee (problem) was a physical humiliation, even if the recovery is going well now," he said.

☆ Thousands protest in Athens after Greece's deadly train crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alkis KonstantinidisATHENS, March 5 (Reuters) - Clashes erupted briefly between police and a group of demonstrators in central Athens on Sunday on the fringes of a protest by thousands of students and railway workers over Greece's deadliest train crash in living memory. A small group of protesters hurled petrol bombs at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. The train, travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, was packed with university students returning after a long holiday weekend. Railway workers' unions say safety systems throughout the rail network have been deficient for years as a remote surveillance and signalling system has not been delivered on time. Greece would soon announce action, he said, adding that Athens would seek expertise from the European Commission and other countries on improving rail safety.

☆ Fact Check-Photos of Pope Francis wearing colorful cross misrepresented in video
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Photos of Pope Francis wearing the Latin American Youth Ministry cross in 2018 have been misrepresented online, with some users incorrectly linking the colours to the pride flag used to show support for LGBTQ+ people. A second tweet from the news outlet details that the colorful cross is the Latin American Youth Ministry cross (here), and each of its colors represent different countries in Latin America. Further information about the symbol and its colors can be found on the website of the Latin American Youth Ministry (here) (here). On Feb. 5, Pope Francis said laws criminalizing LGBT people were sinful and an injustice (here). Photos show Pope Francis wearing the Latin American Youth Ministry cross.

☆ Pope voices his concern for imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday spoke of his concern over the imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison in the Latin American country. The Pope's comments about Alvarez, who is a vocal critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, were made in his weekly blessing to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square. Ortega has accused Catholic leaders of attempting to overthrow him after protests that killed about 300 people in 2018. Since then, the government of the former Cold War-era Marxist rebel has expelled Catholic nuns and missionaries. Alvarez was convicted on Friday of treason, undermining national integrity and spreading false news, among other charges.

☆ Pope Francis says he wants to go to Mongolia in September
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that he expected to continue travelling despite his knee ailment, joking that "weeds never die" and adding that he hoped to go to Mongolia in September. The trip would be the first ever by a pope to the Asian country. Speaking of his health, Francis, who became pope nearly 10 years ago, said "You know that weeds never die. Last August Francis named Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, an Italian, the first cardinal to be based in Mongolia, where he is the Catholic Church's administrator. Francis, who was on his way home from his 40th foreign trip as pope, also said he would probably go to India next year.

☆ Pope Francis says laws criminalising LGBT people are a 'sin' and an injustice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that laws criminalising LGBT people are a sin and an injustice because God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God. Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice," Francis said. He noted that the Catholic Church's catechism, or book of teachings, says same-sex attraction is not a sin but homosexual acts are. Francis mentioned his now-famous phase from soon after he became pope in 2013 that he could not judge people with same-sex tendencies who are seeking God.

☆ Pope Francis Says Criminalizing Homosexuality Is Wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pope Francis discussed homosexuality during an interview with the Associated Press at the Vatican. ROME— Pope Francis said that laws punishing homosexuality are unfair and that the Catholic Church should work for their repeal. The statement, in an interview with the Associated Press published on Wednesday, is the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures by Pope Francis toward gay people.

☆ Pope Francis Mourns Cardinal Pell, Who Called His Reign a ‘Catastrophe’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pope Francis on Saturday said prayers at the funeral of Cardinal George Pell in St. Peter’s Basilica. VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis said the final prayers at Cardinal George Pell’s funeral on Saturday, but didn’t lay to rest the grievances of many conservatives for whom the late cardinal was a leading spokesman. Cardinal Pell, a pugnacious Australian who died on Tuesday, served Francis as Vatican finance minister but differed sharply with the pope’s progressive approach, including his leniency on divorce and homosexuality. The late cardinal bluntly criticized his boss in a memo, published last year under a pseudonym, which described the current pontificate as “a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe.”

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Dies at Age 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 before becoming the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign, died early on Saturday, the Vatican said. Pope Francis said on Dec. 28 that his predecessor was very sick, and Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters that Benedict’s health had deteriorated “due to advancing age.”

☆ Pope Francis Says Retired Pope Benedict XVI Is ‘Very Sick’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pope Francis, standing with a cane, with Pope Benedict XVI, seated, in the Vatican in August. ROME— Pope Francis on Wednesday said that his 95-year-old predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, was very ill and asked the faithful to pray for him. “Remember him—he is very sick—asking the Lord to console him and support him in this testimony of love for the church until the end,” Pope Francis said.

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Is Very Sick, Says Pope Francis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME— Pope Francis on Wednesday said that his 95-year-old predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, was very ill and asked the faithful to pray for him. “Remember him—he is very sick—asking the Lord to console him and support him in this testimony of love for the church until the end,” Pope Francis said.

☆ Factbox: Former pope Benedict, his papacy and resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

VATICAN CITY, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Former pope Benedict, who Pope Francis said on Wednesday was "very sick", resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in 600 years to take such a step rather than rule for life. - Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, was elected on April 19, 2005 to succeed the widely popular Pope John Paul II, who reigned for 27 years. The Vatican under Pope John Paul II had failed to take action against Maciel despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes. Some loyalists failed to accept that he had resigned the papacy willingly and continued to consider him "my pope". Pope Francis, by contrast, also loves classical music but appreciates Italian pop songs from the early 1960s and also likes tango music from his native Argentina.

☆ Former pope Benedict, his papacy and retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

VATICAN CITY, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Former pope Benedict, who Pope Francis said on Wednesday was "very sick", resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in 600 years to take such a step rather than rule for life. Days later, Benedict says he was "deeply sorry" about Muslim reaction to his speech, which he says was misunderstood. Former Pope Benedict traveled to his native Germany last week to visit his ailing older brother. Benedict later pardoned Gabriele and the Vatican later found him a job in a hospital. Benedict pope later acknowledges errors occurred and asks for forgiveness.

☆ Pope Francis Says He Has Written Resignation Letter in Case of Incapacity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pope Francis maintains a heavy daily schedule but has said he would step down if unable to fulfill his duties. ROME— Pope Francis said he signed a letter of resignation in the first year of his reign to provide for the possibility that he would become incapable of fulfilling his duties. “I signed it and said, ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation,’” the pope told the Spanish daily newspaper ABC in an interview published Sunday.

☆ Pope: migrant deaths 'unacceptable and almost always avoidable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean are "unacceptable and almost always avoidable," Pope Francis said on Friday, renewing a call for policymakers across the region to address the issue in a manner "beneficial to all." "The inability to find common solutions [on migration] continues to lead to an unacceptable and almost always avoidable loss of lives, especially in the Mediterranean," Francis said in a message to Rome Med 2022, a foreign policy conference. Insisting that migration towards Europe "cannot be stopped", he urged all parties involved to find a solution that can be "beneficial to all, guaranteeing both human dignity and shared prosperity." According to data from the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, around 136,500 migrants have reached Europe via Mediterranean sea crossings this year, and more than 1,800 have died or gone missing. Reporting by Alvise Armellini Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine needs to be 'far-sighted' to secure peace, pope says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Ukraine's leaders will have to be "far-sighted" to secure peace, Pope Francis said on Friday, suggesting that Kyiv would have to make concessions to end the war with Russia. The pope earlier this month called for a ceasefire to avert the risk of escalation of the conflict and asked God to "hurry up" to end it. "On them lies the duty to govern the country in tragic times and to make far-sighted decisions for peace and to develop the economy during the destruction of so much vital infrastructure." President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that Ukraine was ready for peace, but only on its terms that would restore all occupied territory. In a newspaper interview also released last week, the pope said the Vatican was ready to do anything possible to mediate and put an end to the war.

☆ Pope compares Russia's war in Ukraine to 1930s famine inflicted by Stalin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday that Ukrainians were suffering today from the "martyrdom of aggression" and compared Russia's war in Ukraine to the "terrible genocide" of the 1930s, when Soviet leader Josef Stalin inflicted famine on the country. "This Saturday marks the anniversary of the terrible genocide of the Holodomor, the extermination by famine of 1932-33 that was artificially caused by Stalin," he said. "Let us pray for the victims of this genocide and let us pray for so many Ukrainians - children, women, elderly - who are today suffering the martyrdom of aggression," he said. The Holodomor was a result of Stalin's efforts to collectivise agriculture and root out Ukraine's fledgling nationalist movement. Last month the pope for the first time directly begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the "spiral of violence and death" in Ukraine.

☆ Women managers have improved Vatican more than men, pope says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The pope made his comments during an airborne news conference on the plane returning to Rome from his four-day trip to Bahrain. "I have noticed that every time a woman is given a position (of responsibility) in the Vatican, things improve," he said. He also cited the impact of five women he appointed to a department that oversees Vatican finances. "A society that is not capable of (allowing women to have greater roles) does not move forward." Francis has also appointed women as deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums, deputy head of the Vatican Press Office, as well as four women as councillors to the Synod of Bishops, which prepares major meetings.

☆ Pope says EU states should share responsibility for migrants
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A migrant on board NGO rescue ship 'Humanity 1' looks at dock in Catania, Italy, November 6, 2022. Camilla Kranzusch/SOS Humanity/Handout via REUTERSABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday European Union member states should share responsibility for taking in migrants and not just leave it to the countries where people arrive. He spoke as migration triggered fresh political tensions in Italy, where there has been a stand-off between the government and charity ships trying to disembark migrants. "The European Union has to take up a policy of collaboration and help. "Each government of the European Union should agree on how many migrants it can take," Francis said.

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