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☆ Pope warns against potential dangers of artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Pope Francis gestures on the day he meets with aid and charity representatives at "Centro Paroquial de Serafina" during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 4, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Tuesday called for a global reflection on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), noting the new technology's "disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects." Francis, who is 86 and said in the past he does not know how to use a computer, issued the warning in a message for the next World Day of Peace of the Catholic Church, falling on New Year's Day. The Vatican released the message well in advance, as it is customary. Reporting by Federico Maccioni, editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pope Francis, Violeta Santos Moura, Francis, hasalso, Federico Maccioni, Alvise Organizations: Centro, REUTERS, CITY, Catholic Church, Vatican, Microsoft, IBM, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Vatican

FATIMA, Portugal, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis visited the revered Catholic shrine of Fatima in Portugal on Saturday, praying the rosary with about 200,000 people at the site where the Church says the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. The 86-year-old pope skipped reading a key speech that was on the programme of his two-hour visit to the world-famous shrine north of Lisbon. The omission did not appear to indicate that the pope was experiencing any health issues. Francis flew in from Lisbon - the venue of a Catholic youth festival - to make his second visit as pope to the shrine that draws millions of pilgrims a year. [1/6]Pope Francis greets a child as he meets with people at the Chapel of Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Fatima, Portugal, August 5, 2023.

Persons: FATIMA, Pope Francis, Virgin Mary, Matteo Bruni, Francis, Bruni, Fatima, FATIMA Fatima, Francisco, Jacinta Marto, Lucia Dos Santos, Madonna, Sister Lucia, Pope John Paul, Catarina Demony, Philip Pullella, Michael Gore, Pedro Nunes, Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry Organizations: Catholic, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Fatima, Lisbon, Vatican, Castelo Branco, Russia

Pope Francis gestures on the day he meets with aid and charity representatives at "Centro Paroquial de Serafina" during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 4, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraLISBON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis visited a Church-run social centre in a low-income Lisbon neighbourhood Friday, urging young people to shun "distilled," orderly lives where everything seems perfect but to "get your hands dirty" by helping the needy. "Tangible love is that which gets its hands dirty," he said. The 86-year-old pope is in Lisbon for the Catholic Church's World Day of Youth festival, which ends on Sunday. "Through your actions, your commitment, by getting your hands dirty, by touching the reality and misery of others, you are creating inspiration, you are generating life," he said.

Persons: Pope Francis, Violeta Santos Moura, Vincent de Paul, Francis, Amelia Grantham, Grantham, Philip Pullella, Louise Heavens Organizations: Centro, REUTERS, Violeta Santos Moura LISBON, Catholic, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Serafina, Spain, Italy, Guatemala, Birmingham, England

☆ Zimbabwean tailors cash in on party apparel demand as vote nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Nyasha Chingono | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Zimbabwe's ruling party supporter Lameck Chimanikire checks tailor-made clothing made in support of Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa, at a workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 18, 2023. Business is booming for Zunze making colourful clothing printed with smiling faces of politicians seeking office in the presidential and parliamentary elections due on Aug. 23. Ahead of the vote, the informal clothing industry that includes tailors like Zunze is cashing in on demand from party supporters wanting to wear their party colours on their sleeves. For others, like ZANU-PF youth leader Lameck Chimanikire, the colourful outfits are not just about making a fashion statement. Since I grew up in the apostolic church, I thought of adapting the garment to tell a political message," Chimanikire said.

Persons: Lameck, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Judah Zunze's, Nelson Chamisa, Lameck Chimanikire, Chimanikire, Nyasha Chingono, Olivia Kumwenda, Peter Graff Organizations: Zimbabwe's, REUTERS, Citizens Coalition, ZANU, Thomson Locations: Harare, Zimbabwe, Bulawayo HARARE, Harare's Warren Park, Gweru

[1/7] Pope Francis attends the "Stations of the Cross" procession with young people at Parque Eduardo VII during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon Portugal, August 4, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERSLISBON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of young people reflected on their anxieties, enslavement to the "tyranny" of social media and yearning to save the planet at a huge outdoor rally with Pope Francis on Friday. SCAFFOLD DANCINGPeople performed modern dance routines that included dangling from scaffolding above the pope as they moved a large cross around a structure that resembled a construction site. When the meditation about climate change was read, they donned gas masks as white smoke simulating air pollution engulfed the scaffolding. Francis started Friday by hearing the confessions of three young Catholics, from Spain, Italy and Guatemala, in one of the parks hosting the festival.

Persons: Pope Francis, Parque Eduardo VII, Edward VII, Jesus, Francis said, Francis, Philip Pullella, Louise Heavens, Leslie Adler Organizations: Parque, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Catholic, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon Portugal, REUTERS LISBON, Via, Catholic Woodstock, Lisbon, Spain, Italy, Guatemala

People attend the "Stations of the Cross" procession at Parque Eduardo VII during Pope Francis' apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon Portugal, August 4, 2023. Francis arrived in Lisbon on Wednesday for the week-long World Youth Day, a gathering of hundreds of thousands of Catholics that takes place every three years in a different city. World Youth Day participants were given what organisers have called the "pilgrim kit", which included a hat and a reusable water bottle. The weather agency IPMA issued a "red" alert for Lisbon between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. time (0900-1700 GMT) due to "persistence of extremely" high temperatures. IPMA said temperatures on Saturday could rise to 36 degrees Celsius and 38 degrees Celsius in Fatima and Lisbon, respectively.

Persons: Parque Eduardo VII, Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane LISBON, Francis, IPMA, Fatima, Jesus, Catarina Demony, Grant McCool Organizations: Parque, REUTERS, Parque Tejo, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon Portugal, Lisbon, Tejo, Fatima, Via, China, United States, Europe, Castelo Branco

[1/5] Pope Francis attends a welcome ceremony at Parque Eduardo VII during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 3, 2023. The crowd, which police said numbered about half a million, was the largest in Lisbon since celebrations in 2016 when Portugal's men won the European soccer championships. Thursday's early evening event was the first of several with the pope for World Youth Day, a gathering that takes place every three years in a different city. One of the young people who addressed the pope before he spoke asked him "to put things right in the Church for a better future". He told the crowd the Church had room for everyone, "including those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle", and led them in a chant of "Todos, todos, todos!"

Persons: Pope Francis, Parque Eduardo VII, Portugal mobbed Pope Francis, Francis, Edward VII, Mariana Moreira, God, Philip Pullella, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Parque, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, REUTERS LISBON, Barcelos

Francis was speaking in Lisbon at the start of a five-day visit to the country in which he hopes to energize young Catholics during World Youth Day, the world's largest Catholic festival. The Vatican added the victims were accompanied by some representatives of institutions of the Portuguese Church responsible for the protection of minors. YOUNG CATHOLICS CONVERGE ON LISBONThe pope landed in Lisbon to a sea of young Catholics who have poured into the city from around the globe for the World Youth Day festival, held every two or three years in a different city. In Lisbon, young believers jumped and sang as they proudly waved their country's flag outside the Vatican embassy, where the pope is residing. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneWorld Youth Day "is a sign of faith and union in which all of us get together for a cause," said 20-year-old Carlos Hernandez.

Persons: Pope, Francis, Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Carlos Hernandez, Australian Andrew De Santos, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Philip Pullella, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Alison Williams, Conor Humphries, Grant McCool Organizations: Catholic, Wednesday, Catholic Church, Vatican, Bishops, Conference, Cultural, Belem, REUTERS, Sunday, Thomson Locations: Portugal, LISBON, Lisbon, Portuguese, Vatican, Australian, Brazil, Rome, Ukraine, Europe

[1/8] Pope Francis speaks as he meets with authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in the Cultural Centre of Belem during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneLISBON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Pope Francis promised on Wednesday to continue to "stir things up" in the Catholic Church as he moves on with reforms and changes that could leave a lasting legacy. The 86-year-old pope is making his first trip since intestinal surgery in June and uses a wheelchair and cane. A huge billboard raising awareness of clerical sexual abuse was put up overnight in Lisbon hours before Francis' arrival. Francis will also visit Fatima, the town north of Lisbon where the Church believes that the Virgin Mary appeared to three poor shepherd children in 1917.

Persons: Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane LISBON, Francis, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Filipa Almeida, Almeida, Coracao Silenciado, Fatima, Virgin Mary, Philip Pullella, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Alexandra Hudson, Alison Williams Organizations: Cultural, Belem, REUTERS, Catholic Church, Sunday, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Rome, Brazil, Ukraine, Europe, Western

[1/5] Cookies with Pope Francis images are seen in a bakery ahead of his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Pedro NunesLISBON, July 31 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world have descended on Portugal to welcome Pope Francis when he arrives on Wednesday to close a jamboree dubbed "the Catholic Woodstock". World Youth Day, an event devised by the late Pope John Paul to form young Catholics in their teens or early 20s, is held every two or three years in a different city. PROBABLE MEETING WITH ABUSE VICTIMSThe group is planning to put up big outdoor signs to raise awareness about clergy sexual abuse. Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Monday called it "the biggest international event" Portugal has ever hosted.

Persons: Pope Francis, Pedro Nunes LISBON, Pope John Paul, Francis, Lisbon's Martim Moniz, Manuel Clemente, Matteo Bruni, Antonio Costa, Madonna, Philip Pullella, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Woodstock, Vatican, Lisbon's Parque Tejo, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Lisbon's, Fatima, Rome

☆ A taste of cookie heaven? Lisbon pastry shop marks pope's visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A pastry chef stands beside cookies with Pope Francis images ahead of his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Pedro NunesLISBON, July 26 (Reuters) - As Lisbon gears up for a long visit by Pope Francis next week, a local pastry shop has rolled out a brand-new treat to mark the occasion: a cookie with the pontiff's picture on it that is already selling fast. The idea began as an in-house joke between one of the owners of Balcao do Marques, Fernando Santos, and his pastry chefs. The city-centre pastry shop is close to one of the venues where Francis will attend World Youth Day, a global gathering of young Catholics that runs from Aug. 1-6. Their design features an edible printed image of the pope set on a home-made cookie decorated with icing and coloured sugar sprinkles.

Persons: Pope Francis, Pedro Nunes LISBON, Marques, Fernando Santos, Francis, Santos, he'll, it's, Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira, Pedro Nunes, Andrei Khalip, John Stonestreet Organizations: REUTERS, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Balcao

☆ Opinion | The Largest and Fastest Religious Shift in America Is Well Underway
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Donnell McLachlan, 29, who lives in Chicago, has been sharing the story of his deconstruction on TikTok @donnellwrites, where he has nearly 250,000 followers, since 2021. He was brought up in what he describes as a small Black church on the South Side of Chicago in the Pentecostal and Apostolic traditions. “I started to notice the distance between what we professed and what we actually did,” he told me, especially when it came to women, the L.G.B.T.Q. community and Black Lives Matter. And just like language, there are many interpretations and ways to express it.

Persons: Donnell McLachlan, “, ”, McLachlan, ” McLachlan, ” Jill Fioravanti, Fioravanti “, Hillel Organizations: Southern Baptist Convention, Conservative Jewish Locations: —, Chicago, Maryland

[1/5] Pope Francis greets the crowd ahead of a holy mass at the Kossuth Lajos Square during his apostolic journey in Budapest, Hungary, April 30, 2023. Francis believes migrants fleeing poverty should be welcomed and integrated because they can culturally enrich host countries and boost Europe's dwindling populations. He believes that while countries have a right to protect their borders, migrants should be distributed throughout the European Union. In his homily, Francis also spoke against doors "closed to the world". On Friday, he quoted what St Stephen, the 11th century founder of Christian Hungary, had written about welcoming strangers.

☆ 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, meeting Ukrainian refugees, says better future possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Bernadett SzaboBUDAPEST, April 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday met Ukrainians who fled the war on Hungary's eastern border, telling the refugees that a different future is possible. "We were welcomed here and we have found a new home (but) many have suffered and suffer still because of the war," Yakovlev told the pope. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, millions of refugees have fled through Central Europe, including Hungary, and moved to other countries. Later the pontiff met with Metropolitan (bishop) Hilarion, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church(ROC)in Budapest. The Russian Orthodox Church is by far the biggest of the churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which split with Western Christianity in the Great Schism of 1054.

☆ Pope Francis to gather cardinals to mark his 10th anniversary as pontiff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VATICAN CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - Pope Francis will mark his 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church on Monday celebrating Mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel where he has lived since his election. The Argentina-born Francis, 86, became the first Latin American pontiff on March 13, 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI who had become the first pope in six centuries to resign. Francis has said he would be ready to step down if severe health problems prohibited from running the 1.38-billion-member Church. With his 10 years as pontiff, Francis has now reigned longer than the 7.5 years average length of the previous 265 pontificates. The shortest is believed to be that of Urban VII, which lasted 13 days in 1590.

☆ Pope Francis marks 10th anniversary with Mass and podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VATICAN CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - Pope Francis marks 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church on Monday celebrating Mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel where he has lived since his election. The Argentina-born Francis, 86, became the first Latin American pontiff on March 13, 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI who had become the first pope in six centuries to resign. With his 10 years as pontiff, Francis has now reigned longer than the 7.5 years average length of the previous 265 pontificates. After that comes the papacy of John Paul II, who reigned for more than 26 years between 1978 and 2005. The shortest is believed to be that of Urban VII, which lasted 13 days in 1590.

☆ The life and times of Pope Francis as he marks his 10th anniversary as pontiff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/3] Pope Francis greets people as he attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, March 8, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, March 8 (Reuters) - Following are some of the major events of the life and ministry of Pope Francis, who marks the 10th anniversary of his election as pontiff on March 13. 2017Jan. 2 - Pope Francis says in a letter bishops must show zero tolerance to clergy who sexually abuse children. May 18 - In unprecedented move, all Chile's bishops offer to resign after attending crisis meeting with Pope Francis. In March 2022, he introduces a reform saying Catholic women could in future take charge of most departments.

☆ In surprise, Pope Francis receives cardinal on trial for corruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in a surprise move, on Thursday granted an official private audience to Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the once-powerful Vatican prelate who is on trial for corruption and embezzlement. Becciu is one of 10 defendants at the corruption trial, which revolves around the purchase of a building in London by the Secretariat of State. Pope Francis fired Becciu from another senior clerical post in 2020 for alleged nepotism, an accusation he also denies. This included the right to enter a secret conclave to elect the next pope after Francis's death or resignation. In one of the most recent hearings of the trial, last November, the court heard a secretly recorded telephone call between Becciu and the pope.

[1/6] Pope Francis greets people during the Holy Mass at John Garang Mausoleum, during his apostolic journey, in Juba, South Sudan, February 5, 2023. Two years after independence, South Sudan plunged into a civil war that killed 400,000 people. "I want peace to come to South Sudan. Jesilen Gaba, 42, a widow with four children, said: "The fact that the three Churches united for the sake of South Sudan, this is the turning point for peace. South Sudan has some of the largest crude oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa but a U.N. report in 2021 said the country's leaders had diverted "staggering amounts of money and other wealth" from public coffers and resources.

☆ Protect, advance women for a better South Sudan, pope says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A United Nations report on South Sudan issued last March condemned widespread sexual violence against women and girls in conflict and said it was "fuelled by systemic impunity". South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 but plunged into civil war in 2013 with ethnic groups turning on each other. The pope responded by calling on everyone in South Sudan "to ensure that women are protected, respected, valued and honoured". Francis said that if women are given opportunities "they will have the ability to change the face of South Sudan, to give it a peaceful and cohesive development!" About 10% of 15-year-old girls and 52% of 18-year-old girls in South Sudan are married, she said.

[1/6] People wait before Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with priests, deacons, consecrated persons and seminarians at the Cathedral of Saint Therese during his apostolic journey, in Juba, South Sudan, February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Yara NardiJUBA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of Scotland Moderator will meet people displaced by war in South Sudan and hear their stories on Saturday in one of the high points of their visit to the struggling African nation. South Sudan, the world's newest country, broke away from Sudan in 2011 but plunged into civil war in 2013 with ethnic groups turning on each other. There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan, out of a total population of about 11.6 million, and another 2.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to the United Nations. In his own speech, Kiir said his government was firmly committed to consolidating peace in South Sudan.

Congo has some of the world's richest mineral deposits, but its abundant resources have stoked conflict between ethnic groups, militias, government troops and foreign invaders. He led the stadium in an impromptu chant of "no to corruption" in French, Congo's lingua franca. "The pope is right," said Joel Muhemereri Amani, 21, an art student. The United Nations says African economies lose nearly $150 billion to corruption each year. The 86-year-old pope, who arrived in Congo on Tuesday, flies to neighbouring South Sudan on Friday.

☆ Tens of thousands welcome Pope Francis in Democratic Republic of Congo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jillian Kumagai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Pope Francis stands next to Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi as he attends the welcoming ceremony at the Palais de la Nation on the first day of his apostolic journey, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 31,...more

"Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered," Francis said. [1/9] Pope Francis sits next to Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi as he attends the welcoming ceremony at the Palais de la Nation on the first day of his apostolic journey, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 31, 2023. The pope criticised rich countries for ignoring the tragedies unfolding in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. On Wednesday, Francis will celebrate Mass at a Kinshasa airport that is expected to draw more than a million people.

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