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☆ 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.

☆ Taiwan president tells pope war with China not an option
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has written to Pope Francis to say that war between Taiwan and China is not an option and only by respecting the Taiwanese people's insistence on sovereignty and freedom can there be healthy ties with Beijing. The Vatican is Chinese-claimed Taiwan's sole European diplomatic ally, and Taipei has watched with concern as Pope Francis has moved to improve relations with China. China staged war games near Taiwan last August, and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan has complained repeatedly that its exclusion from the WHO, due to Chinese pressure, has hampered efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying that only the island's 23 million people can decide their future.

☆ Vatican holds funeral for Cardinal George Pell who decried Pope Francis’ rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” was given a funeral Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, with the pontiff imparting a final blessing for the once high-ranking Vatican prelate. Cardinal George Pell, 81, died on Jan. 10, shortly after undergoing hip surgery in a Rome hospital. Pell later returned to his native Australia to be tried on child sex abuse charges over allegations that he molested two choirboys while he was archbishop of Melbourne. As is customary for funerals of cardinals, a final blessing, delivered in Latin, in the form a prayer for mercy and eternal rest, was recited by Pope Francis. Gaenswein unleashed a torrent of criticism of Francis in interviews hours after Benedict died in retirement at the Vatican on Dec. 31 and in a book published days later.

☆ Pope Francis meets Benedict's top aide as memoir rattles Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Pope Francis talks with Archbishop Georg Ganswein during the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Max RossiVATICAN CITY, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday privately met Archbishop Georg Ganswein, former Pope Benedict's closest aide, who has rattled the Vatican with a book describing what he says were the strains while two men wearing white lived within its ancient walls. The Vatican's daily bulletin listed Ganswein in the pope's schedule of audiences but as is customary gave no details. Although Francis often compared having Benedict living in the Vatican to having a grandfather in the house, the book describes some tense situations. For the first seven years after Francis was elected pope, Ganswein kept his two jobs.

☆ Benedict's death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It could also prompt the current pontiff to review what happens to future popes who decide to shuffle away from office because of old age rather than holding on until they die. Francis is now 86, one year older than Benedict was when he retired. Australian Cardinal George Pell, a conservative who was close to Benedict, has written that while a retired pontiff could retain the title of "pope emeritus", he should return to being a cardinal, and be known as "Cardinal (surname), Pope Emeritus". They say a former pope should not return to being a cardinal, as Pell proposes, but be called "Bishop Emeritus of Rome". He said he would want it to be near a large church so he could spend his final days hearing confessions.

☆ Pope Francis to Preside Over Predecessor’s Funeral, in a Vatican First
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, bringing a historically unique situation—that of two popes residing practically side by side in the Vatican—to a similarly unusual close. The event will be in a much lower key than the last papal funeral, that of St. John Paul II in 2005, when heads of state and government flocked to Rome along with millions of mourners, some of whom waited a dozen hours or more to file past the Polish pope’s body lying in state in the basilica.

☆ Two popes in the Vatican - sometimes more crowd than company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Pope Francis later removed him from a top job in the Vatican. "In the Catholic Church, symbols are important," said Father Tom Reese, a Washington-based Catholic author and commentator for Religion News Service. Reese, a Church liberal, found agreement from an unusual source - conservative Australian Cardinal George Pell, a former Vatican treasurer and close associate of Benedict in his retirement. Reese and others have suggested that a former pontiff be called "bishop emeritus of Rome" and be subject to the rules that cover retired bishops. He has said he would want to be called Bishop Emeritus of Rome and live not in the Vatican but in a home for retired priests in the Italian capital "because its my diocese".

☆ U.S. Catholic Priests Are Increasingly Conservative as Faithful Grow More Liberal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

While young priests hold on to tradition, Catholic laity have been moving in a more liberal direction. American Catholic priests are becoming more conservative, even as their flocks are becoming more liberal. U.S. Catholic bishops elected conservative leaders last month, continuing to resist a push from Pope Francis to put social issues such as climate change and poverty on par with the bishops’ declared priority of opposing abortion.

TOKYO/LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japan, Britain and Italy are merging their next-generation jet fighter projects in a bridge between Europe and Asia that marks Japan's first major industrial defence collaboration beyond the United States since World War Two. Britain also wants Japan to improve how it provides security clearances to contractors, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. The two new platforms would compete head-on with each other and the United States in the global fighter market. "There is going to be a Battle Royal in the next 10-15 years in positioning the various players," said UK defence analyst Francis Tusa. The United States, which has pledged to defend all three countries through NATO and a separate security pact with Japan, welcomed the new Europe-Japan agreement.

☆ Pope Francis breaks down and cries while mentioning Ukraine at public prayer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Pope Francis speaks as he attends the Immaculate Conception celebration prayer in Piazza di Spagna in Rome, Italy, December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Yara NardiROME, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Pope Francis broke down and cried on Thursday as he mentioned the suffering of Ukrainians during a traditional prayer in central Rome. Since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, Francis has mentioned Ukraine in nearly all his public appearances and has grown increasingly critical of Moscow. After reading the prayer on Thursday at the statue near the Spanish Steps, the pope greeted people in the crowd, including journalists. When one of journalists mentioned to Francis that she had seem him overcome with emotion, he responded:"Yes.

☆ Check out the pitch deck the Y Combinator alum SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million from investors like SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The marketing startup SilkChart seeks to help businesses better understand their advertising data. It was in Y Combinator's spring 2022 class and says it was able to grow revenue during the program. Now, SilkChart has raised $5.2 million in funding to scale its data-analytics business. Investors include Y Combinator, SoftBank, the ad agency Dentsu, Harlem Capital, and Global Founders Capital. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck that the founders of SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million in funding:

☆ Cannabis-tech firm Weedmaps is cutting up to 25% of its employees as the industry's downturn continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cannabis tech firm Weedmaps is cutting up to 25% of employees, according to a filing. The company told Insider that the majority of the cuts were made last week. Weedmaps CEO Chris Beals stepped down on November 7 and Doug Francis, a Weedmaps cofounder, is running the company on an interim basis. Weedmaps lists cannabis shops on its site, allowing consumers to browse dispensaries and see reviews of marijuana products. Weedmaps is far from the only cannabis company to lay off employees in recent months.

☆ Ukraine remembers Stalin-era famine as Russia war rages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sings the national anthem during his visit in Kherson, Ukraine November 14, 2022. "Once they wanted to destroy us with hunger, now – with darkness and cold," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. Russia has targeted critical infrastructure across Ukraine in recent weeks through waves of air strikes that have sparked widespread power outages and killed civilians. "On the 90th anniversary of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, Russia's genocidal war of aggression pursues the same goal as during the 1932-1933 genocide: the elimination of the Ukrainian nation and its statehood," it said. Pope Francis this week compared Russia's war in Ukraine to what he called the "terrible genocide" of the Stalin-era and said Ukrainians were now suffering from the "martyrdom of aggression."

CNN —The head doctor at Spanish football club Atlético Madrid has been called upon by the Vatican to treat Pope Francis’ knee injury. José María Villalón, a specialist in orthopedic surgery and traumatology, told Spanish radio station COPE that he was part of a group of specialists who traveled to treat Pope Francis. In an interview with Reuters in July, Pope Francis spoke about the injury for the first time, saying he had suffered “a small fracture” in the knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed. Villalón told COPE that Pope Francis is suffering from an “arthritic process which is affecting various joints.”He continued: “Sometimes, it starts in a joint with arthritis and other joints worsen because they carry more load than normal. CNN has reached out to the Vatican and Atlético for comment.

☆ Catholic Bishop in Albany, N.Y., Makes Unusual Request to Be Defrocked
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bishop Howard Hubbard, shown in a 2003 photo, has asked the Vatican for permission to leave the priesthood following accusations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied . The retired Catholic bishop of Albany, N.Y. has taken the extraordinary step of asking Pope Francis to remove him from the priesthood, saying he is unable to minister as a clergyman because of sex-abuse allegations that he denies. Bishop Howard Hubbard , 84, said in a statement on Friday that he had “asked the Vatican for relief from my obligations as a priest and permission to return to the lay state.”

☆ Scrooge Christmas averted as new tree found for Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People gather for the lightning of the Vatican Christmas tree during a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, with protocols in place due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - It could have been a not so merry Christmas for the Vatican this year. Rosello has trees but apparently not as majestic. Forest officials saved the day, offering to give Rosello a tree from their property in another part of the Abruzzo mountains so that the town can donate it to the pope. "It will be a happy Christmas after all," Col. Gianluca Grossi of the area's forest police told Reuters.

☆ Pope ends Bahrain trip with visit to Gulf's oldest church
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Yara NardiMANAMA, Bahrain, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Pope Francis departed from Bahrain on Sunday after a four-day trip that culminated with a visit to the Gulf's oldest Catholic church, where he told bishops, priests and nuns to remain united as they ministered to the faithful in the majority Muslim area. Many Catholics also visit from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which bars public worship by non-Muslims. At the end of the church service, Pope Francis thanked King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for Bahrain's "exquisite hospitality". Pope Francis' visit, where he closed an East-West dialogue hosted by Bahrain, continues his policy of improving ties with the Islamic world following a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2019. Thousands of Catholics in Bahrain and from around the Gulf poured into a stadium to hear the Pope say Mass on Saturday.

☆ Pope Francis thrills small Gulf Catholic community with big Mass
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Pope Francis greets people as he attends a holy mass at Bahrain National Stadium during his apostolic journey, in Riffa, Bahrain, November 5, 2022. REUTERS/Hamad I MohammedAWALI, Bahrain, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said Mass for thousands of Catholics in Bahrain on Saturday, thrilling members of the small foreign Catholic community from around the Gulf and urging them to show kindness to their hosts, even if they feel sometimes badly treated. "This is a miracle," said Mary Grace Fortes, 36, a Filipino who works at the reception of a hotel in Bahrain. The prayers of the faithful during the Mass were read in languages spoken by foreign workers including Tagalog, Swahili, Malayalam, Tamil and Konkani. The Mass was attended by one of the sons of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and several government ministers.

☆ Pope unable to walk around papal plane due to knee pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass for bishops and cardinals who died in 2022, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Pope Francis' knee pain was so bad on the way to Bahrain on Thursday that he was unable to walk around the papal plane greeting accompanying reporters as he usually does. He said he had physical therapy on Wednesday and his knee always hurts the day after. Despite the pain Francis appeared in good spirits as journalists greeted him individually at the front of the plane. Reporting by Philip Pullella, writing by Gavin Jones Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fugitive who bribed Navy officials with cigars, suckling pigs, Lady Gaga tickets, and a 'rotating carousel of prostitutes' may be used as leverage for Venezuela's new government to win recognition fro
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Venezuelan President Maduro may use Leonard as a bargaining chip for US recognition, AP reported. With his capture, experts are speculating whether disputed Venezuelan President Maduro will use the prisoner as a bargaining chip to win recognition from US President Joe Biden's administration, AP reported. He also overcharged the Navy by over $35 million for services, NBC reported,With his arrest, experts told AP Francis' conditional return may be used as leverage to prompt official recognition from the Biden administration. A law enforcement official in Venezuela told AP the extradition is seen as unlikely because the Biden administration recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaidó — not Maduro — as the country's legitimate ruler. Guaidó declared himself interim president of Venezuela in January 2019 amid nationwide protests against authoritarian president Nicolas Maduro.

☆ Navy bribery case fugitive 'Fat Leonard' tried to get to Russia, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In a photo released Sept. 21, 2022, Interpol Venezuela said it captured Malaysian fugitive Francis Leonard Glenn, known as Fat Leonard. Interpol Venezuela | AFP | Getty ImagesSince escaping two weeks ago, officials say the fugitive Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed "Fat Leonard" — who orchestrated one of the U.S. Navy's largest bribery scandals — zipped between countries to find a place where he could become virtually untouchable for American authorities. Francis was planning to travel to Russia, according to Interpol Venezuela Director General Carlos Garate Rondon, who disclosed the arrest in a statement posted Wednesday on Instagram. Among those he befriended was a Russian diplomat, Francis told podcaster Tom Wright, who created a nine-part series on the case. The official said Francis later told authorities his final destination was Russia.

☆ Fugitive 'Fat Leonard' was captured at a Venezuela airport trying to flee to Russia after escaping house arrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Fugitive 'Fat Leonard,' who pleaded guilty to involvement in a US Navy bribery scandal, was caught in Venezuela. Interpol Venezuela said it captured Leonard Glenn Francis trying to flee the country for Russia. Leonard recently cut his GPS ankle bracelet and fled house arrest in San Diego, where he was awaiting sentencing. Francis, a former military contractor who is also known as "Fat Leonard," was captured at an airport while trying to flee the country, Interpol Venezuela said in a Wednesday statement shared to Instagram. —USMS San Diego (@USMSSanDiego) September 6, 2022The US Marshals Service confirmed Francis' capture in Venezuela to the Associated Press.

☆ This 27-year-old saved for years to rent her first apartment — a $1,850-a-month 'dream' loft in Yonkers
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-28 | by ( Cory Stieg | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Since college graduation, Denise Francis had been saving up to move out of the two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn where she lived her whole life. "Now, at the age of 27, I was finally able to move into that dream apartment," Francis tells CNBC Make It. "Instead, I used all those years to continue saving," Francis says. By 2020, thanks to a salaried job and a recent promotion, Francis had saved $20,000, enough money to cover about a year's worth of rent. Typical monthly rent in Yonkers is $2,191 a month, according to data from Zillow shared with CNBC Make It.

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