BLOG: Vatican%20Connections
Last week was all about the 34th World Youth Day as the pope travelled to Panama to be with the youth in what is the largest single gathering of Catholic youth in the world. Yet, despite all the festivities, the Holy Father took a moment to address the clerical abuse scandal during a private luncheon on ...read more
From the earliest moments of the Church, women have served as deacons, ministering to those in-need in their communities. But over the centuries, that important role was somehow lost. Now, with the recent movement towards greater female leadership in the Church, the question of women’s ordination to the diaconate has resurfaced. In tonight’s program, we ...read more
What’s behind the frame? When Pope Francis is photographed during a papal trip, it’s more than just a simple snapshot. Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Journalism wanted to know what we’re actually seeing in these photographs. By looking at Pope Francis’s apostolic visit to Cuba, they found the cultural background of photojournalists ...read more
The Pontifical Swiss Guard is one of the smallest armies in the world, and one of the oldest still in operation. Its main responsibility is to protect the Pope and the Apostolic Palace. Although they have mostly held a ceremonial role in recent years, their training now includes unarmed combat and firearms. Not surprisingly, to ...read more
Saturday, March 25, Pope Francis will travel to Milan for a one-day pastoral visit. Between 500 and 600 thousand people are expected in Milan and Monza. However, it will not be a heavily guarded event, because that is not what the Pope wants. In addition to the faithful, there will also be 3,700 volunteers, 350 ...read more
Last Monday, Pope Francis received in a private audience the bishops of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo, gathered in the International Bishops’ Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Ceicem). The visit was part of “ad limina apostolorum.” Many issues were discussed. First of all, the Church in these countries lives in the heart of an Orthodox ...read more