Following the mass in St. Francis Square yesterday, Pope Francis had lunch in the Caritas Soup Kitchen with a group of homeless persons and refugees living in the Caritas Centre, which aims to provide basic assistance to those who have nowhere else to go. He also spent a few moments of private prayer in the ...read more

    On the surface, it may appear that the theme of this week at the Vatican was “reform.” The Council of Cardinals appointed by the pope to help him study and find ways to fix the Roman Curia – among other things- met for the first time this week. The three days of meetings ...read more

“I give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25). Peace and all good to each and every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in this Square so full of ...read more

“This discernment takes time. For example, many think that changes and reforms can take place in a short time. I believe that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change. And this is the time of discernment. Sometimes discernment instead urges us to do precisely what you had at first thought ...read more

For the second time is just over a week an interview with Pope Francis is making headlines. This time it was Pope Francis himself who called Eugenio Scalfari at La Repubblica and invited him to his residence for a sit down interview to discuss various topics in-depth. You can read the English version of that ...read more

Excerpt from ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO RECENTLY APPOINTED BISHOPS TAKING PART IN A COURSE ORGANIZED BY THE CONGREGATION FOR BISHOPS AND BY THE CONGREGATION FOR THE EASTERN CHURCHES Clementine HallThursday, 19 September 2013 “What does tending and having the permanent and daily care of their sheep (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Lumen Gentium, n. 27) ...read more

This post is part of a series of reflections by TJP writers on Pope Francis’s recent interview. Full Series List: The Papal Interview: Young Jesuits React and Reflect The Original Interview: At America Magazine By Ryan Duns, SJ “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity. And ...read more

By Peter Folan, SJ “In my experience as superior in the Society, to be honest, I have not always behaved in that way — that is, I did not always do the necessary consultation. And this was not a good thing. My style of government as a Jesuit at the beginning had many faults.” Like ...read more

This post is part of a series of reflections by TJP writers on Pope Francis’s recent interview. Full Series List: The Papal Interview: Young Jesuits React and Reflect The Original Interview: At America Magazine By Paul Lickteig, SJ We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy ...read more

This post is part of a series of reflections by TJP writers on Pope Francis’s recent interview. Full Series List: The Papal Interview: Young Jesuits React and Reflect The Original Interview: At America Magazine By Quentin Dupont, SJ “I am a Sinner” This is Pope Francis’ first response–after a few moments of reflection–to the softball ...read more