Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Pope Francis will push for peace during his visit to mainly-Buddhist Myanmar, a church official said Thursday, a trip that plunges the pontiff into the centre of a simmering religious conflict which has sparked an exodus of Muslim Rohingya. Myanmar’s western Rakhine state has been torn …
Read More »Pope Francis urges world to open arms to migrants
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Wednesday urged people across the world to open their arms to migrants, as Catholic charity Caritas launched its “Share the Journey” campaign on migration. “With open arms … that is exactly how to welcome (migrants), with arms wide open,” Francis …
Read More »Pope in Colombia: 3 highlights
Francis’s 12-hour journey from Rome was the first time the pope’s words have been reported direct from his plane. Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Pope Francis landed in Colombia Wednesday to promote peace after decades of war. Here are three highlights from day one of the Argentine pope’s fifth papal …
Read More »Pope Francis’s Colombia visit in 5 numbers
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Pope Francis starts his fifth visit as pontiff to his native Latin America region on Wednesday with a trip to Colombia as it moves on from a half-century civil conflict. Here are five facts and figures about the 80-year-old Argentine-born pope’s trip from September 6-10. …
Read More »Pope Francis: 5 key causes in Latin America
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis visits Colombia next week on the latest in a series of emotionally charged trips to his home region of Latin America. Here are five key challenges that the Argentine pope has confronted in a continent stricken by poverty and crime: – Colombian …
Read More »Pope heads to Colombia to anoint peace process
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis launches an emotionally charged visit next week to Colombia, to call for reconciliation as the country emerges from Latin America’s longest civil war in a contested peace process. In his fourth visit to his native region of the world since becoming pope …
Read More »Top cardinal aims to set up Pope visit to Russia
Rome, Italy | AFP | A top cardinal due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month says he will be seeking to clear the way for Pope Francis to make a historic visit to Russia. Pietro Parolin, the number two in the Vatican hierarchy and its de-facto foreign minister, …
Read More »Pope Francis injects new blood into cardinals club
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Wednesday created five new cardinals in a Vatican ceremony that, while deeply traditional in form, also reflected his vision of a reshaped Church for the 21st century. Four of the five new cardinals come from countries that have never had …
Read More »Pope sends funds to hunger-struck S.Sudan
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis is supporting a series of aid projects in South Sudan, the Vatican said Wednesday, sending money in his place after a trip to the war-torn country was ruled out. The Vatican will donate 462,000 euros ($515,000), which will be divided among …
Read More »‘What do you feed him on? Potica?’ Pope Francis asked Melania
Pope risks joke about Trump’s size Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | It could have caused a diplomatic incident but a culinary quip from Pope Francis seemed to have gone down well with Donald Trump and his wife Melania. In one of the lighter moments of his meeting with …
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