Pope Francis has appointed Francesca Di Giovanni, a lay woman from Italy, as a senior diplomat in the Secretariat of State, the Vatican’s diplomatic and administrative body. Ms Di Giovanni will be under-secretary in a division known as the Section for Relations with States, which essentially means she will be …
Delegates at a recent congress in Rome for Vocations Directors have learned that there is a slow but gradual rise in the number of young people entering into religious life across Europe. However, Pope Francis who addressed the meeting, warned participants not to avoid using the word ‘vocation’, noting that …
Pope Francis is recommending that people leave behind all sorts of useless baggage to rediscover what really matters in life. He also advises people to avoid “empty chatter”. The Pope expressed his reflections as he celebrated New Year’s Day Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. His advice also included …
Pope Francis has a prodigious, and deeply admirable, work ethic, but an article in Irish Catholic newspaper questions why the pope might want to consider following the Italian lead for ferragosto and taking a break in mid-August. Generally speaking, Rome goes into near-total hibernation around the month of August; the …
In a recent article published by the Irish Examiner, Margaret Hickey explains how Pope Francis cannot be accused of not leading the way by example. With scuffed black shoes and a second-hand car he models the frugality he extols. If more celebrities followed his example, frugality could be cool as …
In his first published book as Pope, The Name of God Is Mercy, Pope Francis shares with us his vision and understanding of God’s mercy. In nine chapters which start with ‘The Time of Mercy’ and conclude with ‘How to live the Jubilee well’, we have a road map and …
Pope Francis has cleared the way for Mother Teresa to be made Saint by approving a decree recognising a second miracle attributed to her intercession with God which is a necessary event for such a move in the Catholic church. Mother Teresa’s second miracle involved the inexplicable healing of a …
Papal documents like the recent Laudato Si by Pope Francis aren’t usually the top choice resource for teachers, particularly at primary school level. However, Pope Francis’ recent pronouncement on the environment and our modern lifestyle in his encyclical Laudato Si has proven to be accessible for all ages. This is what …
The “climate change pope” Pope Francis also known as the “pope of the poor” returned to Spanish-speaking South America for the first time as pontiff yesterday, stressing the importance of protecting the needy and the environment from exploitation and – in a nation whose president was booed as his vehicle …
The recent Pope Francis Encyclical on the environment and climate change is now available from the Abbey Bookshop in Limerick and at the Abbey Bookshop website. The controversial encyclical is openly critical of much of our modern throwaway lifestyle which shows little or no regard for poor people or the …