BLOG: Matteo Ciofi
The Spanish daily newspaper El País published last Sunday a long interview with Pope Francis, who spoke to the journalist Pablo Ordaz on January 20th. For more than one hour, inside a normal room in Casa Santa Marta, the pontiff explained that “in the Church there are saints and sinners, decent men and corrupt men” ...read more
The Vatican released a statement Tuesday morning, regarding the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, saying the Holy See “wishes to reiterate its support and encouragement for the commendable work that members and volunteers carry out in various parts of the world, in fulfilment of the aims of the Order.” The statement came during a recent ...read more
This coming Sunday, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated at the Vatican. In recent days Pope Francis’ message, entitled “Migrants minors, vulnerable and voiceless,” was presented alongside all the other initiatives of the Italian Church. In 2015, 65.3 million people around the world were forced to migrate. Of those, 21.3 million were ...read more
Last Monday, the Holy See Press Office published the letter that Pope Francis wrote to the bishops for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, celebrated on December 28. Referring to the massacre of the Innocents, as it is told in the Gospel, the Pope dwelled on the sobbing of mothers bewailing the death of their children ...read more
On Sunday, December 4, 2016 Fidel Castro’s funeral will be held in Cuba. He died last week at the age of 90. The government announced, following his death, nine days of national mourning for one of the most popular and controversial figures of the last 60 years. The Catholic Church had a fundamental role to play ...read more
Last Tuesday Pope Francis sent a message to participants of the COP22 Climate Change meeting taking place in Marrakech, Morocco. In the text, the Holy Father recalled that the Paris Agreement has set out a clear path requiring the collaboration of all the international community, and he quoted extensively from his encyclical Laudato si’, exhorting the promotion ...read more
There are only ten days left before the conclusion of this Year of Mercy. On November 20th, the last Sunday of the liturgical year and the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, Pope Francis will close the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. This Sunday, November 13, all the other Holy Doors across ...read more
On his return trip from Sweden last Tuesday, Pope Francis spoke with the journalists on the flight answering their questions about a range of topics including welcoming refugees, female priests, secularization and his meetings with Venezuela’s President. Commenting on the new direction of Sweden to close its borders to refugees, the Pope stressed the clear difference between the ...read more
On Monday evening Pope Francis received, in a private and unexpected audience, the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The meeting lasted 30 minutes and they talked about the aggravation of the political crisis in the South American country. It has turned into an increasingly serious situation since now the president himself is being harshly criticized by people ...read more
After announcing 13 new cardinals two weeks ago, the Pope presided over the canonization mass of seven blessed on Sunday, October 16, 2016, in front of 80,000 people, who filled St. Peter’s Square for the occasion. Speaking of the new saints, during his homily, the pontiff said the saints are men and women who enter fully into the ...read more