Pope Francis

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Video, with English text, at the link...

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-francis-prayer-intention-month-of-march-martyrs-witnesses.html
Pope's March prayer intention: For the martyrs of our day
27 February 2024, 16:00

Pope Francis releases his prayer intention for March, asking for prayers for the martyrs of our day, and recalling a story he was told by a widowed Muslim man who recounted the martyrdom of his Christian wife as she defied terrorists.
By Francesca Merlo

"For the martyrs of our day, witnesses to Christ". In the new release from The Pope Video, Pope Francis requests prayers for the new martyrs of our day so that they might “imbue the Church with their courage and missionary drive.”

Introducing his prayer intention for the month of March, Pope Francis decides to share a story which he says "is a reflection of the Church today" and one that is "the story of a little-known witness of faith".

He recalls the story of a widowed man whom he met when he visited a refugee camp in Lesbos. The man, a Muslim, recounted the harrowing story of how his wife, who was Christian, was asked by terrorists to throw a crucifix to the ground. "She didn't do it, and they slit her throat in front of me", the man told the Pope.

Pope Francis notes that this man "held no grudges", and was instead "focused on his wife's example of love, a love for Christ that led her to accept, and to be faithful to the point of death".
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-francis-armenia-peace-catholic-bishops.html

Meeting with Armenian bishops, Pope Francis prays for peace
28 February 2024, 11:33

“How many conflicts and massacres have we witnessed, always tragic and always pointless?” the Pope asks. “Let us all take up the cry for peace."
By Joseph Tulloch

The dire geopolitical situation in Armenia, the importance of collaboration with the country’s Orthodox Church, and the need for bishops to be close to their flocks.

These were the themes at the centre of Pope Francis’ address to the Bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church on Wednesday morning.

As the Pope is recovering from a cold, his speech was read aloud by Msgr. Filippo Ciampanelli, an official at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2024/february.index.html
Speeches 2024 February
To the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Cilicia of the Armenians (28 February 2024)

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256935/pope-francis-urges-armenian-catholic-bishops-to-take-up-the-cry-for-peace
Pope Francis urges Armenian Catholic bishops to ‘take up the cry for peace’
By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Feb 28, 2024 / 10:30 am

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Video, with English commentary, at the link...

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-at-audience-envy-and-vainglory-are-self-sabotaging.html
Pope at Audience: God's power is made perfect in weakness
28 February 2024, 09:40

During his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis continues his catechesis series on virtues and vices, this week focusing on the sins of envy and vainglory, suggesting there are remedies to each, both of which involve making ourselves less at the center, embracing weakness, and letting God operate in our lives.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Envy and vainglory are dangerous vices, but there are remedies to combat each.

Pope Francis suggested this during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, as he continued his catechesis series on virtues and vices, this week examining envy and vainglory. 

Given the Pope's recent flu-like symptoms, the Holy Father opted for an official of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Msgr. Filippo Ciampanelli, to read his remarks on his behalf, as he has done for the Holy Father on other occasions.

Speaking first about envy, the Pope recalled the sin, even as early as in the story of Cain and Abel, proved to be a destructive force fuelled by resentment towards others, that often leads to deadly hatred. 

"Envy," he observed, "is an evil that has not only been investigated in the Christian sphere: it has attracted the attention of philosophers and wise men of every culture."
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-francis-convention-prohitition-anti-personnel-mines-peace.html
Pope decries use of landmines 'which continue to target civilians and children'
28 February 2024, 12:23

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2024.index.html
Audiences 2024
General Audience of 28 February 2024 - Cycle of Catechesis. Vices and Virtues. 9. Envy and vainglory

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256932/pope-francis-health-general-audience-hospital-visit
Pope Francis, weakened by ‘a bit of a cold,’ has aide read reflection before hospital visit
By Matthew Santucci
Rome Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 07:44 am

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-francis-tests-rome-hospital-flu-symptoms.html

Pope Francis visits Rome hospital for diagnostic tests
28 February 2024, 13:12

Following the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis, who has been suffering from mild flu symptoms in the past days, visits Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on the Tiber Island for some diagnostic tests.
By Vatican News

A statement released by the Holy See Press Office on Wednesday said Pope Francis visited the Gemelli Hospital on Rome’s Tiber Island straight after the General Audience, where he underwent some diagnostic tests. Following the tests, he was driven back to the Vatican.

Some scheduled papal audiences were cancelled in the past days as a precautionary measure due to flu symptoms the Pope was experiencing.

On Wednesday morning, at the beginning of the Wednesday General Audience, he explained to those present in the Paul VI Hall that he still had a “cold”  and he asked one of his collaborators, Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli, to read the catechesis for him.

Immediately after the audience, he was driven to the Rome hospital on the Tiber Island, which is very close to the Vatican.
 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256933/pope-francis-visits-hospital-for-diagnostic-tests-after-wednesday-audience
Pope Francis visits hospital for diagnostic tests after Wednesday audience
By Courtney Mares
Vatican City, Feb 28, 2024 / 07:43 am

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pan-american-committee-of-judges-for-social-rights-in-argentina.html

Pope tells Argentinian judges to let Jesus guide efforts to protect rights
28 February 2024, 15:30

Warning against profound injustices existent in our times, Pope Francis sends video message to the Pan-American Committee of Judges for Social Rights and Franciscan Doctrine in Argentina, and encourages them in their work to protect the rights of the vulnerable and suffering.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"We live in times of profound injustice: a few rich becoming increasingly powerful, and millions of poor being rejected and discarded. There is no future, no development, no justice, nor democracy in a world where millions of children eat only the waste of those who consume."

This stark reminder was at the heart of the video message Pope Francis sent to the Pan-American Committee of Judges for Social Rights and Franciscan Doctrine (COPAJU) on Wednesday.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256946/what-is-the-catholic-church-s-position-on-ivf

What is the Catholic Church’s position on IVF?
By Peter Pinedo
CNA Staff, Feb 28, 2024 / 18:13 pm

Since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are human children, debate over fertility treatment has erupted anew.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is IVF?

IVF is a medical procedure that fuses sperm and egg in a lab environment to conceive a child outside of the sexual act. The live embryo is then later implanted into a uterus to continue developing until birth.

According to the Mayo Clinic, IVF is typically used as a “treatment for infertility” that “also can be used to prevent passing on genetic problems to a child.”

Is the Catholic Church against IVF?

Yes. While the Church encourages certain fertility treatments for couples struggling to have children, the use of IVF is contrary to Catholic teachings.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Paragraph 2377) states that IVF is “morally unacceptable” because it separates the marriage act from procreation and establishes “the domination of technology” over human life.

According to Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the 1987 Vatican document Donum Vitae established the moral framework for Catholics with regard to IVF. Donum Vitae said that “the gift of human life must be actualized in marriage through the specific and exclusive acts of husband and wife, in accordance with the laws inscribed in their persons and in their union.”

This teaching, Meaney told CNA, laid out a “fundamental distinction” between treatments meant to assist the marital act in conceiving a child versus treatments that replace the marital act.
 

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Additional articles on IVF...

https://www.ncregister.com/news/alabama-in-vitro-fact-and-fiction
Fact and Fiction in the Alabama Frozen-Embryo Case

ANALYSIS: The court ruling should encourage IVF clinics to reform their protocols on safety and informed consent.
Richard M. Doerflinger | Nation | February 29, 2024

A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Alabama, allowing grieving parents to file a lawsuit in the wrongful death of their embryonic children at an in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic, has been attacked by politicians of both parties.

President Joe Biden denounced the decision as “outrageous and unacceptable.” Vice President Kamala Harris said it is “robbing women of the freedom to decide when and how to build a family.” The Biden campaign blames former President Donald Trump, because his U.S. Supreme Court nominees “overturned Roe v. Wade.”

But Trump has called on the state Legislature to change the law to ensure access to IVF, saying his party “should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers and fathers and beautiful little babies.” His primary opponent Nikki Haley has said she believes IVF embryos are children, but also called for legal change to protect IVF.

Serious moral objections to IVF have been legitimately raised by the Catholic Church and some non-Catholics. The Church teaches that IVF divorces procreation from the unitive love between the parents, turning it into a laboratory “manufacture” that allows others to manipulate and even discard the child as a product rather than a gift of God. But the immediate objection to all the politicians’ statements is that they have nothing to do with the facts in this case.
 

https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/alabama-ivf-wild-west-of-art
How the Alabama In Vitro Fertilization Case Exposes the Wild West of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

COMMENTARY: If nothing else results, the facts of the case give an indication of the present state of lawlessness within the $8-billion child-manufacturing industry.
Father Roger Landry | Commentaries | February 28, 2024

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Pope Francis' liturgical celebrations: Holy Week and Easter

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-02/pope-francis-liturgical-celebrations-for-holy-week-and-easter.html
Pope Francis' liturgical celebrations for Holy Week and Easter
29 February 2024, 12:10

The Holy See Press Office releases the official calendar of Pope Francis' Liturgical Celebrations for March 2024, which includes Holy Week and Easter Sunday celebrations, as well as the Via Crucis at the Colosseum.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov

The Vatican’s Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has released the Pope’s liturgical schedule for March, which includes all the celebrations leading up to Holy Week and throughout Easter Sunday.

On Sunday, 24 March, Palm Sunday, Pope Francis will preside over Holy Mass in St Peter’s Square.

Later that week, on Holy Thursday morning, the Pope will preside over the Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

The next evening, on Good Friday, the Pontiff is scheduled to preside over the celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica, before presiding over the Via Crucis in Rome's iconic Colosseum.

As is customary, the Pope will also preside over the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Holy Saturday evening, and the Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, the next morning.

At noon on Easter Sunday, from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father will give his Urbi et Orbi ("to the city and the world") message, and blessing, upon the faithful of Rome and the world.

Here is the full calendar of the liturgical celebrations:
 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256952/here-is-pope-francis-schedule-for-holy-week-and-easter-2024-at-the-vatican
Here is Pope Francis’ schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2024 at the Vatican
By Courtney Mares
Rome Newsroom, Feb 29, 2024 / 12:10 pm

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-02/bishops-of-the-americas-aim-at-more-synodal-and-missionary-churc.html

Bishops of the Americas aim at more synodal and missionary Church
29 February 2024, 13:00

Bishops from Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean hold a three-day summit in the US city of Tampa “to pray and discuss their shared ministry as pastors.”
By Vatican News

Continuing a tradition that goes back to 1959, the bishops of the Episcopal Conferences of the North and South America met in Tampa (USA), for collegial reflection dedicated to prayer, fraternity, listening, and dialogue. Taking part in the February 26-28 gathering were Bishops from the leadership of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

At the conclusion of their meeting, the Bishops sent a letter to Pope Francis to share their experience. “Our conversations bore much fruit and we have begun to explore the possibilities of various joint initiatives, especially in the areas of the environment and migration.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-francis-gender-ideology-is-the-ugliest-danger-of-our-time.html

Pope Francis: Gender ideology is the ugliest danger of our time
01 March 2024, 13:18

Addressing participants in the international Symposium "Man-Woman: Image of God.” Pope Francis describes so-called gender ideology as the "ugliest danger" of our time, because it cancels out all differences that make humanity.
By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis on Friday again spoke out against gender theory describing it as an “ugly ideology of our time”, because it erases all distinctions between men and women. To ceancel this difference “is to erase humanity. Man and woman, instead, exist in a fruitful ‘tension’”, he said.

The Symposium

The remarks came as he opened his address to participants in the international Symposium "Man-Woman: Image of God. Towards an Anthropology of Vocations" held in the Vatican on March 1-2.

The Congress is organized by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, together with the Centre for Research and Anthropology of Vocations (CRAV) and is a follow-up to the previous 2022 Symposium dedicated to the theology of the priesthood.

Introducing his address the Pope said he still has a cold and asked his assistant Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli to read it out for him, "so I don't get so fatigued.”

In the prepared text the Pope reflected on the theme of the Congress which is aimed first of all at highlighting the anthropological dimension of every vocation.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2024/march.index.html
Speeches 2024 March
To participants in the International Conference "Man-Woman: Image of God. Towards an Anthropology of Vocations" (1st March 2024)

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256963/pope-francis-today-the-ugliest-danger-is-gender-ideology
Pope Francis: ‘Today the ugliest danger is gender ideology’
By Matthew Santucci
Rome Newsroom, Mar 1, 2024 / 10:00 am

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-francis-chair-of-welcome-discourse-vulnerability-community.html

Pope: Embrace your vulnerabilities!
01 March 2024, 15:16

Pope Francis addresses a conference on vulnerability and community and invites all the participants to embrace their vulnerabilities and accept those who are vulnerable, just as Jesus did.
By Vatican News staff writer

Addressing participants in the conference “The Chair of Welcome”, on “vulnerability, and community between welcome and inclusion", Pope Francis described the programme of the conference as “rich and interesting”.

At the centre of the conference, the Pope noted, was vulnerability “considered in all its forms”.

“I appreciate this choice”, noted the Pope, before offering some points of reflection to go forward in this evangelical mission.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2024/march.index.html
Speeches 2024 March
To participants in the Conference "Vulnerability and community between reception and inclusion" (1st March 2024)

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256968/pope-francis-meets-fssp-head-confirms-right-to-celebrate-the-traditional-latin-mass

Pope Francis meets FSSP head, confirms right to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass
By Matthew Santucci
Rome Newsroom, Mar 1, 2024 / 13:45 pm

Pope Francis met with the superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) on Thursday, confirming that restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass don’t apply to the order.

The private meeting between the pope and Father Andrzej Komorowski, who was accompanied by two priests from his order, came at the invitation of Pope Francis and followed a request from the FSSP.

According to a press release from the FSSP, the meeting was an opportunity to showcase “deep gratitude to the Holy Father” and to discuss the “liturgical specificity of the Fraternity of St. Peter.”

The FSSP was established on July 18, 1988, as a society of apostolic life of pontifical right by the Holy See, a canonical status that was granted by Pope John Paul II.

At the heart of the FSSP’s charism is the celebration of the Mass and the sacraments according to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, Traditional Latin Mass, or “Usus Antiquior.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-03/vatican-launches-social-media-campaign-on-christus-vivit.html

Vatican launches social media campaign to rediscover ‘Christus vivit’
01 March 2024, 16:59

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is promoting a social media campaign aimed at helping people rediscover the relevance of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation for Young People and keeping the experience of World Youth Day alive.
Vatican News

In 2024, the Church will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit. It was on 25 March 2019, at the Holy House in Loretto, that Pope Francis signed the “letter” to young people that sealed the work of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, which had been held in the Vatican the previous year.

One of the novelties of the October 2018 Synod was the pre-Synodal gathering that involved young people from around the world, with reflections prepared in the local Churches with representatives of the younger generations.

Now, on the fifth anniversary of Christus vivit, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is offering its support to the group of young communicators participating in the Dicastery for Communication’s “Faith Communication in the Digital World” program through the design and production of a social media campaign for the official Facebook and Instagram accounts of World Youth Day (WYD).

Still relevant today

The campaign, which runs from 25 February through 25 April, aims to bring together young people from around the world in a 12-week experience to share the current meaning and spirit of Christus vivit, as well as the fruits of the last WYD, which was held in Lisbon in 2023.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256964/vatican-unveils-the-holy-lance-a-solemn-tribute-to-soldier-of-faith-saint-longinus

Vatican unveils the Holy Lance: a solemn tribute to soldier of faith St. Longinus
By Jacob Stein
Vatican City, Mar 1, 2024 / 12:37 pm

A canon of Saint Peter elevates the relic of the Holy Lance one last time before returning it to its chapel on Feb. 24, 2024. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Vatican

The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus, holds a significant place in Christian tradition as the weapon believed to have pierced the side of Jesus during his crucifixion. Tradition holds that the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica has the jealous custody of a relic that is part of the Holy Lance.

The Gospel of John provides the sole biblical reference to this event, recounting that a Roman soldier named Longinus, on the eve of the Sabbath, ensured Jesus’ death by piercing him in the side with a lance. This act, as described in John 19:34, has sparked centuries of reverence and fascination across Europe and inside the Vatican.


Ministers process to the high altar, with the statue of St. Longinus in the background, on Feb. 24, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Vatican

A soldier of faith
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-francis-motu-proprio-apostolic-signatura-praedicate.html

Pope makes minor changes to proper law of Apostolic Signatura
02 March 2024, 12:00

Pope Francis makes some technical-lexical changes to the rules governing the Holy See's Supreme Tribunal. The changes are aimed at conforming the rules to the Pope's 2022 reform of the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis has published a motu proprio entitled 'Munus Tribunalis', harmonising the proper law of the Apostolic Signatura with his 2022 reform of the Curia, "Praedicate Evangelium".

The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, housed in Rome's Palazzo della Cancelleria, is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church beside the Pope himself.

The proper law of the Apostolic Signatura, to which a few minor lexical changes have been made, was promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2008.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio.index.html
Motu Proprio
Apostolic Letter issued “Motu Proprio” Munus Tribunalis (28 February 2024)

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-appoints-new-nuncio-to-korea-and-mongolia.html

Pope appoints new Nuncio to Korea and Mongolia
02 March 2024, 12:10

Pope Francis appoints Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari from Pescara, Italy, as Apostolic Nuncio to Korea and Mongolia.
Vatican News

Pope Francis appointed on 2 March a new Apostolic Nuncio to Korea and Mongolia, Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari, Titular Archbishop of Alba Narittima, and up until now Apostolic Nuncio to Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe. He succeeds Archbishop Alfred Xuereb, appointed Nuncio to Morocco last December.

Archbishop Gaspari is from Pescara, Italy, born on 6 June 1963. He was ordained a priest on 4 July 1987. He studied Canon Law and has a Licentiate in Moral Theology. He entered the Holy See's Diplomatic Service on 1 July 2001, and has served in the Pontifical Representations in Iran, Albania, Mexico, Lithuania and in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-bereaved-parents-audience-comfort-prayer-support.html

Pope encourages bereaved parents to find comfort in prayer
02 March 2024, 12:55

Pope Francis offers words of closeness and comfort to a group of parents who are mourning the loss of a child and suggests prayer can bring solace to the heart.
By Linda Bordoni

Acknowledging the pain of the ‘Talita Kum’ group of bereaved parents, Pope Francis on Saturday morning said "The first thing I want to do is to look at you, welcome your stories marked by pain with open arms, and offer a caress to your heart, broken and pierced like that of Jesus on the cross.”

Apologizing for his difficulties in speaking due to a cold he has been battling for the past week, the Pope’s address to the group was read by his collaborator, Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli.

"The loss of a child is an experience that defies theoretical descriptions and rejects the triviality of religious or sentimental words, of sterile encouragements or phrases of circumstance, which, while intending to console, end up hurting, even more, those who, like you, face a tough internal battle every day," he said.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2024/march.index.html
Speeches 2024 March
To the parents of the "Talità kum" Association of Vicenza (2nd March 2024)

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-francis-message-world-day-of-children-humanity-fraternity.html

Pope to children: Changing the world starts with ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
02 March 2024, 13:00

Pope Francis sends a message to all the children of the world ahead of the first “World Children’s Day” to encourage them to be united and listen to advice from grown-ups because, he says, their “pleases" and “thank yous" are the first step towards a better world.
By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis has sent a message to all the children of the world, ahead of the very first World Day dedicated to them. World Children's Day, which will be held in Rome on 25-26 May this year "is fast approaching” he tells them.

A message to each and all

In his message, Pope Francis writes that he wants to speak to “each” of them because each individual is precious. At the same time, he continues, the message is addressed to “all” of them, because all children, everywhere, “are a sign of every person’s desire to grow and flourish”. 

The Holy Father goes on to remind the children they are a source of joy for their parents and families “but also for our human family and for the Church” in which we are all connected. For this reason, the Pope encourages the children to pay attention to the stories grown-ups tell them.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/bambini.index.html
Messages World Children's Day
First World Children's Day, 2024

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/pope-opens-vatican-judicial-year-doing-justice-requires-courage.html

Pope opens Vatican judicial year: Doing justice requires the virtue of courage
02 March 2024, 13:03

Addressing officials of the Tribunal of Vatican City State at the inauguration of its 95th judicial year, Pope Francis reminds them that the administration of justice requires the virtue of courage and humility in pursuing the truth and even in facing criticism.
By Lisa Zengarini

In his address delivered on Saturday to mark the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year in the Vatican City State, Pope Francis focused on the virtue of courage needed to administer justice.
 
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2024/march.index.html
Speeches 2024 March
Inauguration of the Judicial Year of Vatican City State Tribunal (2nd March 2024)

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256980/pope-francis-at-the-center-of-justice-is-the-virtue-of-courage
Pope Francis opens Vatican’s Judicial Year, has aide read speech due to ‘bronchitis’
By Matthew Santucci
Vatican City, Mar 2, 2024 / 10:42 am

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-03/olaf-scholz-chancellor-germany-pope-francis-migration-war.html

Pope Francis meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
02 March 2024, 14:22

Pope Francis meets with the Chancellor of Germany, discussing the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the refugee crisis.
By Mario Galgano and Joseph Tulloch

Pope Francis has received German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Vatican.

Although the two had already met at Pope Benedict XVI's funeral at the beginning of 2023, this was their first private audience. They had also spoken on the phone - after the start of the war in Ukraine two years ago, for example.

After his meeting with the Pope, Chancellor Scholz met with Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

"I am very grateful for the extensive conversation with the Pope," the Social Democratic politician said after he had finished his visit.

"We also naturally discussed the major challenges and problems of our times and talked about topics that concern us all," Chancellor Scholz continued. He then listed the topics:

"The Russian aggression against Ukraine, the many deaths that this war has already caused, and the threat to the independence and freedom of Ukraine. We also discussed the war in the Middle East and discussed how we can ensure peace and security in our world."

Other "big questions" under discussion included “migration and the question of justice and coexistence".