October 27, 2021 Psaki acknowledges Biden and pope on different page on abortion, tangles with reporter White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that President Biden and Pope Francis will discuss a range of issues on which they agree during their upcoming visit, and that abortion won’t be one of them.
October 24, 2021 Rev. Robert Sirico: Pope Francis makes an enemy of the poor's best friend—the free market How do we feed the hungry?
October 23, 2021 Biden's upcoming meeting with Pope Francis comes amid rift with US bishops President Biden is slated to meet with Pope Francis for his first time as president next Friday, just weeks before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will convene in part to draft a document guiding bishops regarding whether politicians who support abortion should be barred from Communion.
October 21, 2021 Jonathan Morris: A Catholic saint is canceled in Los Angeles and the Catholic Church is quiet Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has made it official: he’s going to scrub the name and image of a Catholic saint from a city park that bears the saint’s name.
October 14, 2021 Biden to meet with Pope Francis amid Catholic scrutiny of pro-abortion policies President Biden will meet Pope Francis on Oct. 29 in Vatican City during his travel to Rome, Italy for the G20 Leaders' Summit later this month, the White House said Thursday.
October 10, 2021 Nancy Pelosi meets with Pope Francis at Vatican after bishop urges prayer for her Nancy Pelosi traveled to Rome over the weekend to meet with Pope Francis amid an ongoing debate over abortion in America.
October 6, 2021 Pope expresses 'shame' at scale of clergy abuse in France Pope Francis expressed “shame” for himself and the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday for the scale of child sexual abuse within the church in France and acknowledged failures in putting the needs of victims first. The pope spoke during his regular audience at the Vatican about a report released Tuesday that estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy and other church authority figures dating back to 1950. “There is, unfortunately, a considerable number. I would like to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma that they suffered,’’ Francis said. “It is also my shame, our shame, my shame, for the incapacity of the church for too long to put them at the center of its concerns.” He called on all bishops and religious superiors to take all actions necessary “so similar dramas are not repeated.” The pope also expressed his “closeness and paternal support” to French priests in the face of a “difficult test,’’ and called on French Catholics to “ensure that the church remains a safe house for all.” The report said an estimated 3,000 priests and an unknown number of other people associated with the Catholic Church sexually abused children, providing France’s first accounting of the global phenomenon. The French church, like in other countries, has had to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up. The president of the independent commission that issued the findings, Jean-Marc Sauvé , underlined Tuesday that Catholic authorities had covered up the abuse spanning 70 years in a “systematic manner.” Victims welcomed the 2,500-page document as long overdue, and the head of the French Catholic bishops’ conference asked for their forgiveness. The report said the tally of 330,000 victims includes an estimated 216,000 people abused by priests and other clerics, and the rest by church figures such as Scout leaders and camp counselors. The estimates were based on a broader research by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research into sexual abuse of children in the country. The commission urged the church to take strong action, denouncing its “faults” and “silence.” It also called on the Catholic Church to help compensate the victims, particularly in cases that are too old to prosecute in French courts. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Tuesday that Pope Francis learned about the report’s findings “with sorrow.” “His thoughts go in first place to the victims, with a profound sadness for their wounds and gratitude for their courage to speak out,” Bruni said. Francis issued a groundbreaking church law in May 2019 that requires all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sex abuse and cover-ups involving their superiors to church authorities. He said in June that every bishop must take responsibility for the “catastrophe” of the sex abuse crisis.
October 5, 2021 Ernest Lee Johnson executed in Missouri for 1994 triple murder Ernest Lee Johnson was executed by the state of Missouri on Tuesday after he spent more than 25 years on death row following his conviction in the killings of three employees at a convenience store in 1994.
September 29, 2021 Vatican to mandate vaccines for employees The Vatican will begin requiring employees to get vaccinated or submit to regular coronavirus testing starting this Friday, the city-state announced Tuesday, according to reports.
September 16, 2021 Pope Francis on communion for 'controversial' Catholic politicians: Eucharist isn't 'prize for the perfect' Pope Francis has cautioned bishops about wading into politics as U.S. bishops question whether or not to deny communion to pro-choice politicians such as President Biden.
