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☆ Pope says Church conservatives exploited death of ex-pope Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has said some in the conservative wing of the Roman Catholic Church had exploited the death of the former pope, Benedict, in an unethical way for their own gains. Francis used a Spanish expression "Cuento Chino", meaning tall tales, to describe allegations by some conservatives that Benedict was saddened by some of Francis' decisions after Benedict resigned in 2013. The pope said he often consulted Benedict in the nearly 10 years between his resignation in 2013 and his death. Francis did not name any of the conservatives he was referring to. Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, a conservative ally of Benedict who has criticised Francis, also wrote a book in January.

[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.

☆ 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 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.

[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.

☆ 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.

Summary Pope received vibrant welcome in KinshasaAddressed DR Congo's struggles with war, exploitationNow heads to predominantly Christian South SudanArchbishop of Canterbury joins for South Sudan legKINSHASA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Pope Francis wraps up an emotional visit to Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday and heads to neighbouring South Sudan, another nation struggling to overcome decades of conflict and grinding poverty. On Wednesday, he heard harrowing stories from victims of conflict in eastern Congo who had witnessed the killings of close relatives and been subjected to sexual slavery, amputation and forced cannibalism. The pope will be joined for the whole of his visit to South Sudan by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the global Anglican Communion, and by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields. It is the first joint foreign trip by the three Christian leaders, who have called it a "pilgrimage of peace". South Sudan broke away from Sudan to become independent in 2011 after decades of north-south conflict, but civil war erupted in 2013.

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.

☆ Demonstrators in DR Congo demand pope meet sexual abuse victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Benoit Nyemba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Luc GnagoKINSHASA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Around two dozen activists and sexual abuse victims demonstrated in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital on Thursday across the road from a cathedral where Pope Francis was meeting clergy. They held up placards, including some demanding that the pope meet with clergy abuse victims in the country. The demonstration in Kinshasa was organised by Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), an international group, one of many that have been bringing attention to sexual abuse in the worldwide Church. There were no plans for the pope to meet with victims of sexual abuse in Congo, where about 50% of the population is Roman Catholic. The 86-year-old pope has met with many victims of sexual abuse, both in Rome and on foreign trips.

"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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☆ Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger. Both countries are rich in natural resources - DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil - but beset with poverty and strife. DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985, when it still was known as Zaire. Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to "fulfil the promise of the independence movement".

☆ Pope calls for end to violence in Peru, respect for human rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican, January 22, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERSVATICAN CITY, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to violence in Peru, where nearly 50 people have been killed during anti-government demonstrations in the past few weeks. Protests have flared in Peru since President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after attempting to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote. "I encourage all sides to take the path of dialogue among brothers of the same nation, in full respect of human rights and the rule of law," Francis said. Resistance movements, some armed, have emerged across the country, which the military has countered with lethal force.

☆ Gina Lollobrigida, post WWII Italian film diva, dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROME, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, a sultry Mediterranean diva who came to represent Italy's vibrant rebirth after World War Two, has died aged 95, her former lawyer said on Monday. "Farewell to a diva of the big screen, protagonist of more than half a century of the Italian film history. Ciao Lollo," Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano wrote on Twitter. One of her last appearances was a cameo in an Italian film in 2011. In an interview with Reuters in the Rome villa in 2006, she complained about intrusive photographers, saying they were still trying to invade her privacy.

☆ Pell's secret memo casts shadow at cardinal's funeral
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] Pope Francis attends a funeral of Cardinal George Pell in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 14, 2023. About 300 people attended Pell's funeral Mass in a secondary chapel of St. Peter's Basilica. In keeping with tradition for deceased cardinals, the Mass was said by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Italian Giovanni Battista Re. But Pell was given a standard solemn Vatican funeral for a cardinal. Father Joseph Hamilton, Pell's personal secretary, declined to comment on Magister's report and Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said it had no comment.

☆ Cardinal Pell lies in state, funeral plans overshadowed by memo revelation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VATICAN CITY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Australian Cardinal George Pell was lying in state on Friday, with funeral preparations overshadowed by revelations that he was the author of an anonymous memo that branded Pope Francis' pontificate a catastrophe. Early on Friday, a reporter saw about 20 people kneeling in prayer in the church when it opened for 10 hours of lying in state. The small church, which is normally used for baptisms and weddings, is one of the oldest in the Vatican. Last year, respected Italian journalist Sandro Magister, who has a long track record of receiving leaked Vatican documents, published an anonymous memo circulating in the Vatican condemning Pope Francis' papacy as a "catastrophe". Pell will be buried in the crypt at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, where he served as archbishop, the Australian Church has announced.

☆ Pell wrote secret memo calling Francis' papacy 'catastrophe', journalist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Commentators of every school, if for different reasons ... agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe," the memo begins. The Vatican's political prestige is now at a low ebb." Pell appeared to like the more liberal-minded Francis personally, but not how he ran the Church. Francis supported Pell privately during the abuse saga and on the day of the acquittal offered Mass for all who suffer unjust sentences. "The political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican is negligible.

[1/3] Australian Cardinal George Pell gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy December 7, 2020. Archbishop Peter Comensoli, the Archbishop of Melbourne, said Pell had died from heart complications following hip surgery. An Australian appeals court ruling in 2020 quashed convictions that Pell sexually assaulted two choir boys in the 1990s. Pell took pride in having set up one of the world's first schemes to compensate victims of child sexual abuse in Melbourne. The inquiry, known as a Royal Commission, began in 2013 a five-year investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and other institutions.

☆ 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.

☆ Slovenian Jesuits ask for forgiveness in major abuse case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROME, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Slovenia's Jesuits say they believe sexual abuse allegations against a prominent member of their order are true and have asked for forgiveness. It is the latest development in the case of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik that has rattled the religious order and the Vatican. Some leading Jesuits have called for a full review of how the order and the Vatican have handled the case. We sincerely ask for forgiveness from all," Slovenia's Jesuits said in a website statement posted on Friday. Jesuits in Rome and Slovenia have asked any other victims to come forward.

☆ Book by Benedict's top aide reveals tensions in Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Archbishop Georg Ganswein pays homage to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 3, 2023. Ganswein says Benedict, in his annotated response to Francis, critiqued the way Francis had responded to questions on abortion and homosexuality. He also writes that Benedict felt Francis' decisions to restrict the use of the traditionalist Latin Mass was "a mistake". Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said he had no comment on the book, written with Italian journalist Saverio Gaeta and published by Piemme, an imprint of Mondadori. SERVING TWO MASTERSFor the first seven years after Francis was elected pope, Ganswein kept his two jobs - Prefect of the Pontifical Household and private secretary to the ex-pope.

☆ Guide to the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict on Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

VATICAN CITY, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis will preside at a funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square on Thursday for his predecessor former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of 95. Here is a guide to what is expected to happen:END OF LYING IN STATESince Monday, the body of the Emeritus Pope has been lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica, where more than 160,000 people had filed past to pay their respects as of midday Wednesday. The funeral Mass presided over by Pope Francis is due to start at 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT). At the end of the Mass, Francis will recite "The Final Commendation and Farewell" asking God to "console the Church". Near the end of the Mass, Francis will sprinkle holy water on the coffin and incense it.

[1/12] Pope Francis attends the funeral of former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Kai PfaffenbachSummary Pope Francis presides at funeral of his predecessorBenedict wanted simple funeral, Vatican saysEx-pope was standard-bearer for traditionalist CatholicsPope Benedict to be buried under St. Peter's BasilicaVATICAN CITY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis presided at the funeral of former Pope Benedict on Thursday, delivering a homily comparing his predecessor to Jesus before tens of thousands of mourners in St. Peter's square. 'LEFT HIS MARK'People from all over the world, many from Benedict's native Germany, began arriving the dark of the night to say farewell to Benedict. An account of Benedict's papacy, along with other items, including Vatican coins minted during his reign, was also tucked into the coffin. Even though Benedict largely avoided public appearances in subsequent years, he remained a standard-bearer for Catholic conservatives, who felt alienated by reforms ushered in by Francis, including cracking down on the old Latin Mass.

☆ 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.

☆ Thousands more, including Hungary's Orban, bid farewell to Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pays homage to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 3, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERSVATICAN CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Thousands more people, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, paid homage to former Pope Benedict on Tuesday on the second day that his body lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica. Orban, the first head of government to pay their respects following Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, stood with his wife before Benedict's body for a few moments in prayer. Francis will preside at Benedict's funeral in St. Peter's Square on Thursday before a crowd that Vatican police say will be in the tens of thousands. Later, that one will be placed into a zinc coffin and then both will be placed into another coffin made of wood.

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