Voices
Gerard O’Connell is America’s Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
FaithVatican Dispatch
During a 45-minute press conference on the flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions about whether the Holy See would be ready to act as a mediator to avoid a civil war in Venezuela, the problem of the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy in the Catholic Church and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
FaithGoodNews
Pope Francis made history this morning when he celebrated Mass for more than 135,000 Catholics from many nations and cultures at the Zayed Sports stadium in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
FaithVatican Dispatch
“There is no alternative: We either build the future together or there will not be a future,” Pope Francis said frankly in an important keynote address to participants at the high-level inter-religious meeting in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4.
“Religions, in particular, cannot renounce the urgent task of building bridges between peoples and cultures,” he told the 700 representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions at an open-air gathering at the memorial to the founding father of the United Arab Emirates.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Today the only Christians in the Arabian Peninsula are migrants, and the pope’s visit is a cause of great joy for them.
FaithVatican Dispatch
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition, of which the U.A.E. is a member, has so far not respected international accords to help end a crisis in which 10 million people risk starvation.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Pope Francis will visit Abu Dhabi to attend an international interfaith meeting on “Human Fraternity,” organized by Muslim leaders, and will celebrate Mass for migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.
FaithVatican Dispatch
The announcement was made from the Jesuit headquarters in Rome in a press communiqué released on Jan. 30.
Politics & SocietyVatican Dispatch
During a press conference on the flight from Panama to Rome, the pope spoke on a variety of topics, including the situation in Venezuela, the issue of married priests, sex education in schools and the Vatican's sex abuse summit.
FaithVatican Dispatch
During his visit to La Casa Hogar El Buen Samaritano where he lead the Angelus, he also prayed for the victims of the terrorist attack today in a cathedral in the Philippines and a recent terrorist attack on a police academy in Bogota, Colombia, as well as for those who died in tragic accidents in Brazil and Mexico this past week.
FaithVatican Dispatch
He told them, “Dear young people, you are not the future but the now of God and he invites you and calls you in your communities and cities to go out and find your grandparents and elders; to stand up and with them to speak out and realize the dream that the Lord has dreamed for you.”