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Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France's Corsica awash in expressions of popular piety
Read full article: Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France's Corsica awash in expressions of popular pietyPope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society.
Vatican confirms plans for Belgium, Luxembourg trip after pope cancels audiences due to illness
Read full article: Vatican confirms plans for Belgium, Luxembourg trip after pope cancels audiences due to illnessThe Vatican has confirmed that plans remain in place for Pope Francis to go to Belgium and Luxembourg.
Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priests
Read full article: Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priestsPope Francis has apologized after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.
Vatican: Pope Francis tasks cardinal with mission aimed at paving 'paths to peace' in Ukraine
Read full article: Vatican: Pope Francis tasks cardinal with mission aimed at paving 'paths to peace' in UkraineThe Vatican says Pope Francis has tasked a leading Italian cardinal with a mission it hopes it can “ease tensions" in the Ukraine war and lead to path of peace.
Vatican shelves assault probe into Canadian cardinal claims
Read full article: Vatican shelves assault probe into Canadian cardinal claimsThe Vatican says a preliminary church investigation into sexual assault allegations by a Canadian woman against a top cardinal has determined the case doesn’t warrant further investigation.
Pope weighed Iraq virus risk but believes God will protect
Read full article: Pope weighed Iraq virus risk but believes God will protectFrancis said the idea of a trip “cooks over time in my conscience,” and that the pandemic was the issue that weighed most heavily on him. Francis, the Vatican delegation and traveling media were vaccinated against COVID-19, while most Iraqis haven't been. Francis said he wasn’t sure if he would have to slow down his usual whirlwind pace on future trips. Otherwise, the only other trip Francis has promised to make is to Lebanon, though he offered no time frame. He said the country's patriarch had asked him to add a Beirut leg onto his Iraq trip but that he had declined, thinking it would be like tossing the country “crumbs," given all Lebanon’s current problems.
Vatican defends pope's Iraq trip amid virus as 'act of love'
Read full article: Vatican defends pope's Iraq trip amid virus as 'act of love'The Vatican has taken its own precautions, with the 84-year-old pope, his 20-member Vatican entourage and the 70-plus journalists on the papal plane all vaccinated. Iraq, however, only began its vaccination campaign Tuesday and most Iraqis who come to see the pope won't be inoculated. Bruni noted that Iraq has a predominantly young population and that the current daily caseload was small compared to the overall population. The trip will mark the first-ever papal meeting with a grand ayatollah, the Iranian-born Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani. In between, Francis will travel to southern Najaf to the home of al-Sistani, a figure revered in Iraq and the Shiite world.
Pope marking Holocaust warns another genocide possible
Read full article: Pope marking Holocaust warns another genocide possibleFILE - In this Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, Pope Francis delivers his message during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, on the Immaculate Conception day, at the Vatican. Pope Francis is once again canceling public appearances due to nerve pain. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)ROME – Pope Francis marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday by warning that warped ideologies can pave the way to another genocide. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators. The Argentine pope insisted on the need to remember, saying it was a sign of humanity and a condition for a peaceful future.
Vatican: Pope to visit Iraq in March, pandemic permitting
Read full article: Vatican: Pope to visit Iraq in March, pandemic permittingVATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will make a pilgrimage to Iraq in March, pandemic conditions permitting, the Vatican said Monday, in announcing what would be the pontiff's first trip abroad in more than a year. The Vatican said Francis had accepted invitations from the Iraqi government from the local Catholic church. It wasn't immediately clear if the pope would travel if he had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 before the trip. In mid-2019, Francis told Catholic aid agencies that he planned on traveling to Iraq in 2020. While then ailing, he had wanted to go to Iraq in 1999, but, according to the Vatican, the pilgrimage never happened because then-dictator Saddam Hussein postponed it.
The Latest: Prosecutor: attacker not on intelligence radar
Read full article: The Latest: Prosecutor: attacker not on intelligence radarA man prays in the street outside the Notre Dame church in Nice, southern France, after a knife attack took place on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)PARIS – The Latest on a knife attack in Nice, France, (all times local):10:25 p.m.France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor says the Nice attacker, who was born in 1999, was not on the radar of intelligence agencies as a potential threat. The rally came on the day an attacker armed with a knife killed three people inside a church in the French city of Nice. An attacker armed with a knife killed three people in the southern French coastal city Thursday. ___11:20 a.m.An attacker armed with a knife has killed three people at a church in the southern French city of Nice.