Pope Francis

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-audience-roaco.html#.Wyzfc4I58zQ.twitter

Pope: ROACO helps Oriental Catholic Churches witness to the Gospel
22 June 2018, 12:08

Pope Francis addresses participants in the Plenary Assembly of ROACO  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis thanks ROACO for their work in helping the Oriental Catholic Churches “to carry forward their witness to the Gospel
By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis on Friday received participants in the Plenary Assembly of ROACO, which this year coincides with the 50th anniversary of the organization.

The Reunion of Aid Agencies to the Oriental Churches (ROACO: Riunione Opere Aiuto Chiese Orientali), unites funding agencies from various countries in order to assist Catholic Oriental clergy and faithful in Rome and in their different countries of origin. The twenty-three Oriental (or Eastern) particular Churches sui iuris are all in full communion with Rome, and are all part of the Catholic Church. According to the teaching of the Church in the Second Vatican Council, all particular Churches, whether or East or West, “are of equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others.”

Those attending the audience were given printed copies of the Pope's address, which Pope Francis said he hoped they would read. He then spoke off-the-cuff about his concern for the situation in the Middle East.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-audience-roaco-middle-east.html
Pope: Middle East a crossroads of suffering
22 June 2018, 15:23

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-verbites.html

Pope urges Verbites to trust in God and be brothers in proclaiming the Word of God
22 June 2018, 14:52

Pope meeting members of the general chapter of the Society of the Divine Word in the Vatican on June 22, 2018.   (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis on June 22 met members of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) participating in their General Chapter near Rome.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Friday encouraged the Divine Word Missionaries to trust in Divine Providence while preaching the Gospel, especially to those who are excluded, abandoned and trampled, while remaining united as brothers in their vocation and mission.

The Pope’s exhortation came in a talk to 155 members of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), popularly known as Verbites, who are participating in their 18th General Chapter which began Nemi, near Rome, on June 17.   

Noting the theme of their general chapter, “'The Love of Christ impels us’ (2 Cor 5:14): Rooted in the Word, Committed to His Mission”, the Pope said it has a “clear Pauline and missionary flavour” and urged the Verbites to return to their roots and origins as envisioned by their founder Saint Arnold Janssen.  In this regard he encouraged them to trust in Divine Providence, to proclaim the Word of God and to be a community of brothers.
 

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more on the Reuters interview...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-interview-changes/pope-to-make-vatican-changes-in-push-for-reform-transparency-idUSKBN1JI1T8

June 22, 2018 / 8:49 AM / Updated 7 hours ago
Pope to make Vatican changes in push for reform, transparency
Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will be making several significant changes in the Vatican in the next few weeks and months to bring in fresh faces with new ideas and promote others as part of his push for reform.

The pope disclosed his decisions in a rare sit-down interview with Reuters at his residence, during which he also spoke of migration, China, freedom of the press, sexual abuse and the role of women in the Church.

During the two-hour interview last Sunday night, Francis said he had decided that the Office of Papal Charities, otherwise known as the pope’s almoner, will henceforth be headed by a cardinal, the highest position in the Church after the pope himself.

The current head of that office will be promoted and his successors will have the same rank. This will institutionalize a higher profile for the department that oversees help for the poor.

“It think there are two long arms of the pope - that of being custodian of the faith, and there the work is done by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the prefect has to be a cardinal,” Francis said.

“And the other long arm of the pope is the almoner, and there must be a cardinal there. These are the two long arms of the pope - faith and charity.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2018-06/the-bishops-of-sierra-leone-and-liberia-invite-pope-francis.html

The bishops of Sierra Leone and Liberia invite Pope Francis to visit their two countries
21 June 2018, 14:05

Presuli della Conferenza Episcopale di Gambia - Liberia - Sierra Leone, in Visita ad Limina Apostolorum  (© Vatican Media)
The bishops of Sierra Leone and Liberia have invited Pope Francis to visit their countries during a meeting in the Vatican on 11 June. A planned apostolic trip to the two nations by St. Pope John Paul in 1992 was cancelled due to civil unrest in the two countries at the time.
Festus Tarawalie - Vatican City

Pope Francis on 11 June received in audience bishops from Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone as they marked the end of their ad limina visit. During an ad limina, usually once every five years, bishops’ conferences prepare reports for Vatican dicastery, describing the status of the Church in their country or region.

A meeting of "a brother with his brothers"

After the meeting with the pope, the Archbishop of Freetown, His Grace Edward Tamba Charles gave me his impression.

Archbishop Charles says the meeting was a very good one and that it was in the pope's words a “meeting of brother with brothers”. He also revealed that the bishops of Sierra Leone and Liberia asked Pope Francis to visit their countries.. St. Pope John Paul II had planned a visit to the two countries in 1992, but the visit was cancelled due to the spillover of Liberia’s civil war into its neighbour. He did visit Senegal, Gambia and Guinea that year.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-african-churches-oaic.html

Pope encourages Africa’s homegrown Churches in peace building, social justice, coexistence
23 June 2018, 13:01

Pope Francis addressing representatives of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) in the Vatican on JUne 23, 2018. (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis on June 23 met representatives of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC).
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Saturday reminded the Catholic Church and Africa’s homegrown Churches of their “shared commitment to promoting peace processes in the various areas of conflict, as well as to concrete forms of solidarity towards those in need”, especially the most underprivileged and vulnerable.

Coexistence, peace, justice

“A particular task of Christians in African societies is that of fostering the coexistence of differing ethnic groups, traditions, languages and religions, a task that often meets with obstacles due to grave mutual antagonisms,” the Pope told 11 members of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC).  The group founded in 1978, represents about 60 million members of numerous Christian denominations across Sub-Saharan Africa and the African Diaspora.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-emouna-religions-dialogue.html

Pope: ‘Interreligious dialogue built on openness not syncretism'
23 June 2018, 12:41

Pope Francis speaks to Emouna Fraternite Alumni  (Vatican Media)
Speaking to members of the “Emouna Fraternité Alumni”, Pope Francis encourages the Association’s efforts on behalf of interreligious dialogue, telling them to live in a spirit of solidarity open to differences, without resorting to syncretism.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis on Saturday told a French interreligious association to encourage dialogue among people of different faiths and to promote peace and the sacredness of every human life.

He was speaking to a delegation of the “Emouna Fraternité Alumni” Association, which seeks to strengthen the bonds of solidarity among different religions.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2018-06/vatican-tribunal-holy-see-child-pornography-sentence-capella.html

Vatican convicts former Holy See diplomat for child pornography
23 June 2018, 16:55

The Vatican trubunal in session in the child pornography case of Monsignor Carlo Capella on June 23, 2018. (ANSA)
Monsignor Carlo Capella who served as a councillor at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, US, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and €5,000 fine by the Vatican tribunal on June 23.

The Vatican court on Saturday convicted a former Holy See diplomat, sentencing him to five years in prison for the “possession and distribution of child pornography with the aggravating circumstance of its large quantity,” in what is the first trial of its kind inside the Vatican.

Italian Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella who served as a councillor at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, US, admitted to viewing the images during what he called a period of "fragility" and interior crisis.

Tribunal President Giuseppe Dalla Torre read out the verdict after a two-day trial and sentenced the 50-year old priest to five years in prison and a fine of €5,000. 

Msgr. Capella, ordained a priest of Milan Archdiocese in 1993, will serve the sentence in the Vatican barracks, where he has been held since his arrest on April 7 after his recall from Washington.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2018-06/pope-renames-vatican-dicastery-communication.html

Pope renames Vatican communications office
23 June 2018, 15:40

Pope Francis on Saturday changed the name of the Secretariat for Communication to the “Dicastery for Communication”, with a rescript published in the Osservatore Romano.

The Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication (Vatican News’ parent organization) will now be called the Dicastery for Communication.

Pope Francis made his decision public on Saturday, after hearing the opinion of the Council of Cardinals.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-angelus-saint-john-baptist.html#.Wy-BS5-YRQQ.twitter

Pope at Angelus: ‘in every human person there is the imprint of God'
24 June 2018, 12:54

Pope Francis during the Sunday Angelus  (AFP or licensors)
Pope Francis reflected on the “sublime mission” of parents that he said, makes each family a sanctuary of life. He was speaking during the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis on Sunday took his cue from the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist and from the Gospel reading of the day to reflect on how parents, when generating a child “act as co-workers of God”.

To the crowds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said that in “every human person there is the imprint of God, the source of life” and he described the role of parents in “generating a child” as a “truly sublime mission that makes each family a sanctuary of life”.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-feast-of-st-john-the-baptists-birth-francis-reminds-nothing-is-impossible-for-god/
ANGELUS ADDRESS: On Feast of St John the Baptist’s Birth, Pope Reminds ‘Nothing Is Impossible for God’ 
June 24, 2018 13:48

Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-general-assembly-pontifical-academy-for-life.html#.WzDUv5FzDH8.twitter

Pope Francis: ‘Respect for the world begins with respect for the human body’
25 June 2018, 12:15

Pope Francis meets with members of the Pontifical Academy of Life  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis addresses the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Life on Monday focusing his remarks on the theme of the two-day workshop: situating human life within the wider context of the globalized world.
Sr. Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

The Pontifical Academy of Life is holding a two-day workshop 25-26 June. Pope Francis met with the participants on Monday and shared his thoughts with them regarding the theme: Equal Beginnings. But then? A global responsibility”.

Science at the service of life

Pope Francis began saying that “human ecology” needs to be encouraged to consider “the ethical and spiritual quality of life in all of its phases”. Scientific studies on the human person are important, but need to be integrated within the broader realization of the person’s origins. Human life “burst on the world scene with the wonder of word and thought, of affections and spirit”, the Pope said.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-gravissimum-educationis-foundation.html#.WzDUy9_p0TE.twitter

Pope: ‘Catholic education gives soul to world’
25 June 2018, 13:24

Pope Francis speaks to Gravissimum Educationis Foundation  (Vatican Media)
Inviting the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation to offer hope, Pope Francis says Catholic education gives soul to our globalized world and radiates the promise of Christian salvation.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis on Monday spoke to participants in the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation’s conference entitled, “To Educate is to Transform”.

The Holy Father encouraged the group in their efforts to coordinate between Catholic educational institutions, and offered them three suggestions.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-meeting-governor-general-australia-cosgrove.html

Pope meets Governor-General of Australia
25 June 2018, 16:36

Pope Francis flanked by Governor-General of Australia, Peter Cosgrove (L) and his wife Lynne Cosgrove (R), during a meeting in the Vatican on June 25, 2018. (AFP)   
Pope Francis on June 25 received in audience in the Vatican the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Peter Cosgrove.

Pope Francis on Monday received in audience in the Vatican the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, General Sir Peter Cosgrove.  Later, the Governor-General met Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin accompanied by the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

“During the cordial discussion, the themes of migration, at both global and regional levels, and climate change, were considered,” a Vatican statement said after the meetings. “Mention was also made of the role of the Church in Australian society, and the current discussion on the protection of minors and vulnerable people, reiterating the commitment of all members of the Church in this regard.”

The two sides also reviewed the “social situation” of Australia and the “question of peace and stability in the entire region of the Pacific and of Asia.”
 
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Gallery of photos at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-france-president-macron-audience.html

Pope Francis meets French President Macron
26 June 2018, 15:14

Pope Francis exchanges gifts with French President Emmanuel Macron  (Vatican Media)
At a private audience in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Tuesday, Pope Francis and France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, exchange gifts and discuss the environment, migration, and disarmament.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis met on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who later inherited the title of honorary canon of the Lateran Basilica. Macron was accompanied at the papal audience by his wife, Brigitte.

The Pope and the French president discussed protection of the environment, migration, and conflict prevention, according to a communique from the Holy See Press Office.

Their comments on global issues included the need for “multilateral commitment to conflict prevention and resolution, especially in relation to disarmament.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2018-06/cardinals-parolin-sandri-ouellet-filoni-order-bishops.html

Pope makes changes within College of Cardinals
26 June 2018, 15:01

Cardinals in the Hall of the Consistory (file photo)
Pope Francis has transferred four Cardinals to the “Order of Bishops” within the College of Cardinals.
By Christopher Wells

With a rescript dated 26 June 2018, Pope Francis has named four Cardinals to the Order of Bishops within the College of Cardinals. The rescript, signed by Cardinal-elect Angelo Becciu, the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, says the new Cardinal Bishops will be equal “in all respects to the Cardinals holding the title of a suburbicarian Church.”

Traditionally, the Order of Bishops within the College is composed of six Bishops who are given the “title” of Bishops of the suburbicarian sees – that is, dioceses in the immediate vicinity of Rome. The new Cardinal Bishops are Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches; Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; and Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for Peoples. From the moment the rescript enters into force on 28 June, the new Cardinal Bishops will be equivalent in all respects to their confreres who hold the title of suburbicarian churches.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-taps-italian-bishop-to-head-vatican-treasury-16726

Pope Francis taps Italian bishop to head Vatican treasury

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2018 / 05:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Cardinal Domenico Calcagno as head of the body managing the Vatican's assets and real estate holdings, appointing Italian Bishop Nunzio Galantino to take his place.

Calcagno, who turned 75 in February, was appointed APSA's secretary by Benedict XVI in 2007, and was later named its president by Pope Francis in 2011.

For a year before that appointment, the cardinal was also part of a commission tasked with the supervision of the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), known as the “Vatican Bank.” Though he was appointed for a five-year term, he was removed by Francis before that term was up.

Calcagno, who at one point was investigated for embezzlement in his previous diocese of Savona,  stepped down after reaching the typical age of retirement for bishops, who are required to submit their resignations after their 75th birthday.

APSA is the office that handles the Vatican’s investment portfolio and its real estate holdings, as well as serving as the Vatican employment office and procurements agency.

The man taking Calcagno's place is Bishop Nunzio Galantino, 69, who since December 2013 has served as secretary general of the Italian Bishops Conference, known by its Italian acronym as the “CEI.” Before that appointment, he led the small Italian diocese of Cassano all’Jonio.
 
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/9300/francis-appoints-italian-bishop-to-head-apsa-vatican-s-financial-centre-
26 June 2018 | by Rose Gamble   
Francis appoints Italian bishop to head APSA, Vatican's financial centre

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-disabled-greetings-audience.html#.WzNst7xiWCs.twitter
Pope: ‘God has special place in heart for disabled people’
27 June 2018, 09:54

Pope Francis lights a candle from the Special Olympics torch  (Vatican Media)
Ahead of the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis greets several sick and disabled people, saying God has a special place in His heart for people with a disability.

Pope Francis made a special stop in the air-conditioned Paul VI Hall on Wednesday to greet several sick and disabled people, before lauding the Special Olympics organization on its 50th anniversary
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-general-audience-commandments.html
Pope at General Audience: ‘the Commandments are an invitation’
27 June 2018, 13:57

Pope Francis continued his catechesis focussed on the Ten Commandments on Wednesday during the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
By Linda Bordoni

A true Christian life, Pope Francis said to the pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience, is a grateful response to a generous Father.
 

Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-consistory-new-cardinals.html

Pope creating 14 news cardinals on June 28
27 June 2018, 17:54

Pope Francis placing the red hat on a new cardinal during the Consistory of June 28, 2017. 
During the Consistory, Thursday evening in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square, the Pope will create 14 new cardinals from 11 countries.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis will create 14 new cardinal from 11 countries during the Ordinary Public Consistory in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica Thursday evening, June 28. 

The Pope first announced the names of the new cardinals on Sunday, May 20, following his midday “Regina Coeli” prayer and blessing in St. Peter’s Square.   

The cardinals-designate are from Bolivia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Peru, Madagascar, Mexico and Spain. The Pope explained that the places from where the new cardinals come “expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men and women on earth”.  He said their nominations “manifest the unbreakable bond between the See of Peter and the local Churches throughout the world”.

The new Cardinals are:
His Beatitude Louis Raphaël I Sako – Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon (Iraq)
Archbishop Luis Ladaria –Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Spain)
Archbishop Angelo De Donatis – Vicar General of Rome (Italy)
Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu – Substitute of the Vatican Secretary of State and Special Delegate for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Italy)
Archbishop Konrad Krajewski – Almoner of the Office of Papal Charities (Poland)
Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi (Pakistan)
Bishop António dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fátima (Portugal)
Archbishop Pedro Barreto of Huancayo (Peru)
Archbishop Desiré Tsarahazana of Toamasina (Madagascar)
Archbishop Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila (Italy)
Archbishop Thomas Aquinas Manyo of Osaka (Japan)
Emeritus Archbishop Sergio Obeso Rivera of Xalapa (Mexico)
Emeritus Bishop Toribio Ticona Porco of the Territorial Prelature of Corocoro (Bolivia)
Father Aquilino Bocos Merino of the Claretian order (Spain)
 

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http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/9301/doctrinal-chief-ladaria-plays-down-possibility-of-female-deacons-

27 June 2018 | by Christopher Lamb   
Doctrinal chief Ladaria plays down possibility of female deacons

Ladaria has said that the ruling against women being ordained priests was definitive, infallible teaching

The leader of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation sought to play down expectations about the possibility of female deacons today, arguing that a commission set up by Pope Francis was focussed on their historical role in the early Church rather than on ordination. 

Cardinal-designate Luis Ladaria told reporters in the Vatican on 26 June, that while women deacons existed in the early Church they were “not the same” as their male counterparts. 
 
Meanwhile, the new cardinal said that the hotly debated question of giving Protestants communion to be agreed by the whole Church, rather than one country’s bishops. A German bishops’ proposal to loosen restrictions to Protestants was recently put on hold by the Vatican .

“This Holy Father thinks, and we think, that the problem must be studied in a broad context, by the whole Church, and not only locally,” the doctrine prefect said.

“We are not against ecumenism, no, no, but we have to see all the implications. The relationship of the Catholic Church not only with Protestants but also with the Orthodox church and other churches. And not only in Germany.”

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Hmmm...

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-06/german-bishops-inter-denominational-marriage-sharing-eucharist.html

German Bishops publish guidelines on sharing Communion
27 June 2018, 16:23

A statement published on the website of the German Bishops’ Conference offers pastoral guidance on the matter of sharing the Eucharist in inter-denominational marriages.

The German Bishops' Conference on Wednesday published its proposed guidelines on allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion.

Following a meeting with Pope Francis on 11 June, the President of the Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said pastoral dialogue and discernment are at the heart of the ecumenical quest for the sharing in the Eucharist in inter-denominational marriages. It was highlighted that the guidelines are conceived as an "aid to orientation" and that "the topic is to be explored in greater detail" in accord with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

Please find below the Statement by the Permanent Council of the German Bishops’ Conference on “Pastoral guidance on the matter of inter-denominational marriages and sharing in the Eucharist”
 
https://onepeterfive.com/german-bishops-publish-intercommunion-handout-with-a-rhetorical-trick/
German Bishops Publish Intercommunion Handout with a Rhetorical Trick
Maike Hickson    June 27, 2018

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more on the Reuters interview...

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pope-reform-insight/a-popular-pope-but-how-powerful-francis-still-fights-internal-battles-idUKKBN1JN266

Special Reports   June 27, 2018 / 10:23 AM / Updated 4 hours ago
A popular pope, but how powerful? Francis still fights internal battles
Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - When Pope Francis wanted to appoint a woman as deputy head of the Vatican press office in 2016, he quickly ran into opposition from the Catholic Church’s male-dominated hierarchy

“I had to fight,” Francis said in a rare, two-hour interview with Reuters in his residence this month.

Asked why the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, then three years into his papacy, could not put a woman into a middle-ranking Vatican role without a fight, the pope smiled and replied: “Bosses cannot always do what they want.

“They have to convince. There is a verb, a word, that helps me very much in governing: ‘to persuade’. It is persuasion, slowly persuading, if you can manage to do it.”

Francis declined to say who had resisted his appointment of Paloma Garcia Ovejero, a 42-year-old Spanish journalist, the only woman with an executive role in the Vatican press office and one of fewer than a dozen in Vatican leadership positions.

The episode is an example of one of the battles this pope has fought to change the culture of the Vatican even incrementally, to turn it and the Church beyond its walls into a more efficient, inclusive and forgiving institution.

Now in his sixth year as pope, Francis, 81, is also still battling to put an end to recurring sex scandals, reform the Vatican’s central bureaucracy and overcome a conservative backlash to his teachings.