Page 6 - Pope Francis

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Pope to preside over interfaith meet in Indonesian mosque during Asia visit

Pope Francis will preside over an interfaith meeting in a mosque in the world's largest predominantly Muslim country during a four-nation Asian visit in September that will be the longest and most complicated foreign trip of his pontificate. The Vatican on Friday released the itinerary for Francis' September 2-13 trip to Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore. The packed schedule makes clear that the 87-year-old pontiff, who has battled health problems and is increasingly reliant on a wheelchair, has no plans to slow down. After a day of rest upon arrival in Jakarta on September 3, Francis launches into a typically rigorous round of protocol visits to the four countries' heads of state and government, speeches to diplomats and meetings with clergy and public Masses in each location. In Jakarta, he'll preside over an interfaith meeting at the capital's Istiqlal Mosque. Sprinkled in the mix are encounters with young people, poor and disabled people, elderly people and

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First pontiff to address G7 summit, Pope Francis raises alarm about AI

Pope Francis challenged leaders of the world's wealthy democracies on Friday to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence, warning that such powerful technology risks turning human relations themselves into mere algorithms. Francis brought his moral authority to bear on the Group of Seven, invited by host Italy to address a special session at their annual summit on the perils and promises of AI. In doing so, he became the first pope to attend the G7, offering an ethical take on an issue that is increasingly on the agenda of international summits, government policy and corporate boards alike. Francis said politicians must take the lead in making AI human-centric, so that human decisions always remain made by humans and not machines. We would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away people's ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives, by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines, he said. We need to ensure and

Pope Francis apologises for making homophobic slur in a closed-door meeting

A statement from the Vatican said that the Pope's intention was not to cause offence and expressed regret to individuals who were hurt by the use of a word

Pope Francis apologises after being quoted using vulgar term about gays

Pope Francis apologised Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church's ban on gay priests. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis' comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20. Italian media on Monday had quoted unnamed Italian bishops in reporting that Francis jokingly used the term faggotness while speaking in Italian during the encounter. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican's ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

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Pope Francis urges Italians to have babies as a measure of hope for future

Pope Francis pressed his campaign Friday to urge Italians to have children, calling for long-term policies to help families and warning that the country's demographic crisis was threatening the future. The number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people, Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups. Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future. It was Francis' latest appeal for Italy and beyond that Europe to invert what he has called the demographic winter facing many industrialised countries. Italy's birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born. With the Vatican's strong backing, the right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italy

Pope skips Good Friday event to preserve health ahead of Easter: Vatican

Pope Francis skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome's Colosseum, the Vatican said, adding to concerns about his frail health during a particularly busy liturgical period. Francis had been expected to preside over the Way of the Cross procession, which re-enacts Christ's Passion and crucifixion, and composed the meditations that are read aloud at each station. But just as the event was about to begin, the Vatican announced that Francis was following the event from his home at the Vatican. It was the first time he had skipped the traditional, evocative event in his 11-year papacy, an event that St. John Paul II famously skipped just before he died in 2005. "To conserve his health in view of the vigil tomorrow and Mass on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis at the Colosseum this evening from the Casa Santa Marta," a statement from the Vatican press office said. The 87-year-old Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been battlin

Pope Francis' 'white flag' comment met with criticism from Ukraine, allies

Ukrainian and allied officials Sunday criticised Pope Francis for saying that Kyiv should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, a statement many interpreted as a call for Ukraine to surrender. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland, a vocal ally of Kyiv, condemned the pope's remarks. And a leader of one of Ukraine's Christian churches on Sunday said that only the country's determined resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb 24, 2022, had prevented a mass slaughter of civilians. In an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI and partially released on Saturday, Francis used the phrase the courage of the white flag as he argued that Ukraine, facing a possible defeat, should be open to peace talks brokered by international powers. Our flag is blue and yellow. We live, die and win under it. We will not raise other flags, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted on Sunday on X, former

Pope Francis appeals for end of Israeli strikes at Gaza on Christmas day

Pope Francis on Monday blasted the weapons industry and its instruments of death that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the abominable attack of Hamas against southern Israel on October 7 and called for the release of hostages. And he begged for an end to Israel's military campaign in Gaza and the appalling harvest of innocent civilians as he called for humanitarian aid to reach those in need. Francis devoted his Christmas Day blessing to a call for peace in the world, noting that the biblical story of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem sent a message of peace. But he said that Bethlehem is a place of sorrow and silence this year. Francis' annual Urbi et Orbi ("To the City and the World") speech typically offers a lament of all the misery facing the world, and this year's edition was no differe

Pope allows blessings for same-sex couples if they don't resemble marriage

Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God's love and mercy shouldn't be subject to an exhaustive moral analysis to receive it. The document from the Vatican's doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if they didn't confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage. The new document repeats that condition and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings in question must be non-liturgical in nature and should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding. But it says requests for such ...

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Pope blames weapons industry for Russia-Ukraine war, martyrdom of Ukrainian

Pope Francis has labelled the weapons industry as being a key driver of the martyrdom of Ukraine's people in Russia's war, saying even the withholding of weapons now is going to continue their misery. Francis appeared to refer to Poland's recent announcement that it is no longer sending arms to Ukraine when he was asked about the war during brief remarks to reporters while returning home from Marseille, France. Francis acknowledged he was frustrated that the Vatican's diplomatic initiatives hadn't borne much fruit. But he said behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict was also the weapons industry. He described the paradox that was keeping Ukraine a martyred people that at first many countries gave Ukraine weapons and now are taking them away. Francis has long denounced the weapons industry as merchants of death, but he has also asserted the right of countries to defend themselves. I've seen now that some countries are pulling back, and aren't giving weapons, he said. This will start a

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Martin Scorsese meets Pope Francis, announces film about Jesus Christ

Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese met Pope Francis over the weekend and said he is inspired to make a film about Jesus. According to entertainment news outlet Variety, the 80-year-old cinema icon and his wife Helen Morris met Pope Francis during a brief private audience at the Vatican on Saturday. . "I have responded to the Pope's appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus. And I'm about to start making it," Scorsese said during the Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination conference at the Vatican. The conference was organized by Jesuit publication La Civilta Cattolica and Georgetown University. The filmmaker was visiting Italy after the premiere on his directorial venture "Killer of the Flower Moon" at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival. The film features Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons.

Pope Francis taps successor as archbishop of Buenos Aires: Vatican

Pope Francis on Friday tapped an Argentine bishop with years of ministry in the country's prisons as his successor as archbishop of Buenos Aires, a day after again saying he might finally visit his home country next year. Bishop Jorge Ignacio Garca Cuerva, the 55-year-old bishop of Rio Gallegos, will replace the retiring Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli, who turned 75 last year, the Vatican said. The appointment was announced a day after Francis repeated that he was looking into visiting Argentina next year. Francis has kept Argentina at an arms' length for the 10 years of his papacy, apparently not wanting to get drawn into the country's political polarization. But recently, he has indicated an openness to finally go back next year, after a new Argentine president is sworn in following an October election. My idea is to go next year. We'll see if it's possible, Francis told a forum of students. If he goes, it would fall to Garca Cuerva to help organize the trip and welcome Francis ..

Pope speaks of secret peace 'mission,' help for Ukraine kids amid war

Pope Francis has revealed that a secret peace mission in Russia's war in Ukraine was underway, though he gave no details, and said the Vatican is willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war. I'm available to do anything, Francis said on Sunday during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary. There's a mission that's not public that's underway; when it's public I'll talk about it. Francis gave no details when asked whether he spoke about peace initiatives during his talks in Budapest this weekend with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban or the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary. Deportations of Ukrainian children have been a concern since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Francis said the Holy See had already helped mediate some prisoner exchanges and would do all that is humanly possible to reunite families. All human gestures help. Gestures of cruelty don't help, Francis said. The International

Talks underway to return colonial-era artefacts, indigenous loot: Pope

Pope Francis said on Sunday that talks were underway to return colonial-era artefacts in the Vatican Museum that were acquired from Indigenous peoples in Canada and voiced a willingness to return other problematic objects in the Vatican's collection on a case-by-case basis. The Seventh Commandment comes to mind: If you steal something you have to give it back, Francis said during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary. Recently, Francis returned to Greece the three fragments of the Parthenon sculptures that had been in the Vatican Museums' collection for two centuries. The pope said on Sunday that the restitution was the right gesture and that when such returns were possible, museums should undertake them. In the case where you can return things, where it's necessary to make a gesture, better to do it, he said. Sometimes you can't, if there are no possibilities political, real or concrete possibilities. But in the cases where you can restitute, please do it. It's .