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Fr. Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome, speaks to CNA on May 22, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Rome, Italy, May 24, 2013 / 03:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Rome’s most well known exorcist says Pope Francis performed an exorcism in St. Peter’s Square last Sunday and that the man was possessed because of Mexico’s abortion law. “The Pope, in good faith, got close to him and performed an exorcism on him in the form of a liberation prayer, not like the classical exorcism that one does with a book,� said Father Gabriele Amorth in a May 22 evening interview with...

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Holy Father is full of surprises, born of true and faithful humility. On Wednesday he declared that all people, not just Catholics, are redeemed through Jesus, even atheists. However, he did emphasize there was a catch. Those people must still do good. In fact, it is in doing good that they are led to the One who is the Source of all that is good. In essence he simply restated the hope of the Church that all come to know God, through His Son Jesus Christ. Francis based his homily on the message...

(Vatican Radio) “Doing good” is a principle that unites all humanity, beyond the diversity of ideologies and religions, and creates the “culture of encounter” that is the foundation of peace: this is what Pope said at Mass this morning at the Domus Santae Martae, in the presence of employees of the Governorate of Vatican City. Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, concelebrated at the Mass. Wednesday’s Gospel speaks to us about the disciples who prevented a person from outside their group from doing good. “They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If...

Pope Francis asked those gathered for the Pentecost Vigil Mass at the Vatican to chant Christ's name instead of his own, highlighting his role as Christ's vicar on earth. "From now on no more 'Francis,' only 'Jesus,' alright?” he asked rhetorically during the Pentecost Vigil Mass said May 18 at Saint Peter's Square...."I want to hear you shout out 'Jesus, Jesus is Lord, and he is in our midst.'" ...The Pope told how his grandmother was the first to pass on the faith to him, and insisted that a person's faith begins through their family. "I received my first Christian...

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis on Saturday and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy", called for stronger regulation of financial markets. On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries. Merkel visited Rome for a few hours specifically to meet the pontiff and spoke with him privately in his library for 45 minutes, unusually long for a private papal audience. She told reporters afterwards that the scandals and excesses criticized by Francis...

Pope Francis set a record by canonizing 800 15th Century laymen that refused to convert to Islam and brutally died because of it. It is a story of faith and strength in the face of death, death from a brutal and barbaric people. But NBC is worried for poor Pope Francis. They are worried that acknowledging that these 800 heroes died true martyrs death and thus are assured of heaven, that the Pope may have hurt Islam's feelings. But no worries, there is someone more evil than the Pope to blame. But the choice to highlight their sacrifice may put...

ROME, May 13, 2013 – In the preaching of Pope Francis, there is one subject that returns with surprising frequency: the devil. It is a frequency on a par with that with which the same subject recurs in the New Testament. But in spite of this, the surprise remains. If for no other reason than that with his continual references to the devil, pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio parts ways with the current preaching in the Church, which is silent about the devil or reduces him to a metaphor. In fact, the minimization of the devil is so widespread that...

Here is something that I never thought I would write.Fr. Z kudos to Jamie Manson of the National Schismatic Reporter.One of Fishwrap‘s headliners, a darling of LCWR, the openly-lesbian, Margaret Farley-mentored Jamie Manson has sobered up about Pope Francis.She has a piece in the Fishwrap today in which she tosses Francis under the bus. Be clear about this: she is wrong in her positions, but she is honest enough to state her case clearly and she sees accurately what is going on.Context: she starts with the high hopes which the liberal, dissenting LCWR-ers had for Pope Francis, how jazzed they...

Because, he says, unrepentant public sinners could slip in among the faithful, and he does not want to back up their hypocrisy. The case of Catholic politicians who support abortion. ROME, May 9, 2013 – There is one particular in the Masses celebrated by Pope Francis that raises questions that have so far gone unanswered. At the moment of communion, pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio does not administer it himself, but allows others to give the consecrated host to the faithful. He sits down and waits for the distribution of the sacrament to be completed. The exceptions are very few. At...

A letter Pope Francis sent to the bishops of Argentina in late March is encouraging pro-life advocates because it says pro-abortion politicians should not be eligible for communion in the Catholic Church.Pope Francis directed the Argentinean bishops to govern the Church there following the Aparecida Document.The text states, in part, “[people] cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged. This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of governments, and health professionals.�“These are the guidelines we need for...

Retired Pope Benedict XVI greets Pope Francis at the Vatican May 2. The 86-year-old retired pontiff, who had been staying at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo since retiring Feb. 28, returned to the Vatican to live in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens. (CNS photo/L'Ossevatore Romano via Reuters) When Pope Francis visited his predecessor at Castle Gandolfo in March, he said to Benedict XVI that “we are brothers.� This image nicely frames the differences between them. It underscores that the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was not a rupture in the Church (as some suggest) but an...

POLL BELOWThe Holy Father is, as I type, at Santa Maria Maggiore for recitation of the Most Holy Rosary.Do you say the Rosary?Some shots from the live feed.In Italy it is customary to end the Rosary with recitation of the Litany of Loreto.Some will prefer that Francis use a stole or a cope. But in the past Popes have some times used them, sometimes not.Now for the poll. Anyone can use the poll, but only those who have registered (and whom I have approved) can comment. I cannot tell who you are or how individuals “vote�. I say part or...

"This is called slave labor," said Pope Francis. The Holy Father was referring to the $40 a month paid to apparel workers at that eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh that collapsed on top of them, killing more than 400. "Not paying a just wage ... focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at personal profit. That goes against God!" The pope is describing the dark side of globalism. Why is Bangladesh, after China, the second-largest producer of apparel in the world? Why are there 4,000 garment factories in that impoverished country which, a few decades ago,...

PITTSBURGH, April 30, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholics in Pennsylvania and around the country are outraged after learning that a college student dressed as the pope from the waist up – and nude from the waist down – handed out condoms in an event organized by Carnegie Mellon University's art department. The university has said in a release that it has not yet taken action against the student, who shaved her pubic hair into the shape of a cross, because it is still investigating whether the incident violates “our community standards.” CMU spokesman Ken Walters said, “We are continuing our review...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Students at Carnegie Mellon say it’s freedom of expression, but the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh calls it inappropriate and disrespectful. At an annual art school parade, a female student dressed up as the pope, and was naked from the waist down while she passed out condoms. Even more, witnesses say the woman had shaved her pubic hair in the shape of a cross. The Diocese has asked CMU to take action. “I think we all know that when we’re growing up we do stupid things but to cross over the line in this instance shouldn’t happen with...

(Vatican Radio) It was truly a day to remember for 44 people who had come to St Peter’s Square to be confirmed by the Pope. The special Mass on Sunday was organized as part of the Year of Faith and those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation had come from all over the world to be in the Square. During his homily Pope Francis offered the thousands of people gathered and in particular those being confirmed three short reflections. The Holy Father began by recalling the second reading in Sunday’s liturgy which describes the vision of St John. Pope Francis...

(CNS/Paul Haring) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While some Catholics would like to undo the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, others basically are trying to build a monument to it rather than fully live its teachings, Pope Francis said. In his homily April 16 at an early morning Mass in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Pope Francis said Christians must struggle with the temptation to tame the Holy Spirit. "To speak plainly: The Holy Spirit annoys us," he said. The Spirit "moves us, makes us walk, pushes the church to...

Pope Francis told priests on Sunday to practice what they preach, saying the church’s credibility was on the line. During a Mass to formally take possession of one of the Vatican basilicas in Rome, Francis said ordinary Catholics need to “see in our actions what they hear from our lips.” … “Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the church’s credibility,” he said. …

At the Venice Biennale, which from 1 June takes place for the 55th time, for the first time the Vatican will be represented with its own pavilion. The Italian art and culture critic Francesco Colafemmina criticised in a statement the works selected for the artists shown there and the costs of the purchase of the exhibited works.

Jesus only did the Father's will ! Do not be disarmed by others any more or care for their concerns but be filled with MY will for you, for in this alone shall you be able to do all things. You see it is in this place where truly the flesh dies yet I remain and this IS complete surrender as true as the sky is blue for in my atmosphere all else pales to compare for My Glory even rests here ! I establish all things so where I AM you "MUST BE" and begin to inhabit for "I...

For far too long, many priests have been offering not the fine wheat of sound doctrine but the chaff of theological dissent from the teaching of the Church's Magisterium. Hence we have experienced not renewal but a spiritual dry rot. Vatican II, in its' Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis) No. 4, had this to say: "The People of God are joined together primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe, priests, as co-workers with their bishops,...

Salvation can only come through Jesus Christ, not through tarot readers and fortune tellers, Pope Francis has said. Preaching at morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae in Rome today, Pope Francis said: "In order to solve their problems many people resort to fortune tellers and tarot cards. But only Jesus saves, and we must bear witness to this! He is the only one." "Mary always leads us to Jesus, as she did at Cana when she said: 'Do whatever he tells you'. Let us trust in the name of Jesus, let us invoke the name of Jesus, and let...

Dignity and Propriety In order never to be guilty of any disedifying act, the priest must regulate his actions, his movements and his habits in harmony with the sublimity of his vocation. He who on the altar almost ceases to be mortal and takes on a Divine form, remains always the same even when he comes down from the holy hill and leaves the temple of the Lord. Wherever he is, wherever he goes, he never ceases to be a priest and the serious reasons which compel him always to be grave and becoming accompany him with his dignity everywhere....

Family of an 8-year-old boy from Rhode Island with cerebral palsy describe an Easter at the Vatican meeting Pope Francis that they will never forget.

April 3, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - “Small acts with great love,� Mother Teresa was fond of saying. On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis bestowed an extraordinary Easter blessing upon my family when he performed such an act in embracing my son, Dominic, who has cerebral palsy. The embrace occurred when the Pope spied my son while touring the Square, packed with a quarter million pilgrims, in the “pope mobile� after Mass. This tender moment, an encounter of a modern Francis with a modern Dominic (as most know, tradition holds that St. Francis and St. Dominic enjoyed an historic encounter), moved not...

A Rhode Island couple has revealed how they were moved to tears when Pope Francis kissed their disabled eight-year-old son in front of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. Paul and Christina Gondreau of Johnston and their five children, including son Dominic who suffers from cerebral palsy, attended Easter Mass at the Vatican. An usher directed Dominic and his mother to an area designated for handicapped children, said Paul Gondreau, a theology professor at Providence College who is teaching this semester in Rome. When the pope's vehicle arrived, the usher motioned to the driver to stop...

(Reuters) - Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty, could restructure or even close the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of its troubled bureaucracy, Vatican sources say.

The New Pope has raised a lot of eyebrows over the past few weeks with his unorthodox approach to his responsibilities. No more is the lavish apartment or gilded robes. In shocking turns, instead of people kissing his ring, the New Pope has stopped his motorcade to pray for the sick. Instead of preaching from a gilded chair, he goes to a prison and washes prisoners feet. These types of actions have shocked Traditionalists who are not happy at all with the New Pope. The New Pope, however, feels that he is going back to more of the attitude of...

(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the definitive text of Pope’ Francis’ Easter Vigil Homily, March 30th, 2013:Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Gospel of this radiant night of the Easter Vigil, we first meet the women who go the tomb of Jesus with spices to anoint his body (cf. Lk 24:1-3). They go to perform an act of compassion, a traditional act of affection and love for a dear departed person, just as we would. They had followed Jesus, they had listened to his words, they had felt understood by him in their dignity and they had accompanied him...

I’ve been on retreat since Tuesday of Holy Week, but I thought I would take a look how Pope Francis is faring. It seems people are in a huff over his washing the feet of young prisoners at Casal del Marmo during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. In my lightning quick survey, I may have missed it, but it really looks like there’s not even one comment about what’s going on in Scripture other than that the Apostles were the receivers of the mandatum, the mandate, to wash feet.I fully realize that the Liturgy is...

Vatican City, 30 March 2013 (VIS) – From 5:15pm until 6:40 this afternoon, there will be an extraordinary exposition of the Holy Shroud in the Cathedral of Turin, Italy. The initiative is part of the Year of Faith that was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI and will be broadcast by the Italian television channel, RAI1. For the occasion, Pope Francis recorded a video message, the text of which we offer below. “Dear Brothers and Sisters, I join all of you gathered before the Holy Shroud, and I thank the Lord who, through modern technology, offers us this possibility.” “Even...

(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the full text of the Holy Father’s Urbi et Orbi Message, Easter 2013. Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! What a joy it is for me to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons … Most of all, I would like it to enter every heart, for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen, there is hope for you, you...

How Should We Understand Pope Francis Washing Women's Feet? by Jimmy Akin Thursday, March 28, 2013 4:28       --snip--  This Year's Mass of the Lord's Supper It was surprising but not surprising when the Holy See announced that Pope Francis had chosen to celebrate this year's Mass of the Lord's Supper not in one of the papal basilicas of Rome but, instead, in its juvenile prison.That's precisely the kind of gesture that we have come to expect from the new pope in the short time we've been getting to know him.It's not traditional, but it's humble and evangelistic.And...

In the short time since Pope Francis became leader of the Catholic Church, his every move has been scrutinized for signs of what his plans could be for his rule. And while his focus on austerity and the world’s poor has excited many who thought the Church was too out of touch with reality, traditionalist Catholics have been devastated. Francis’ decision to wash the feet of two girls, including a Muslim, during a traditional Holy Thursday ritual “has become something of the final straw,” writes the Associated Press. For traditionalists, it was a clear sign that Francis has no...

The Vatican has updated the coat of arms of Pope Francis. (CNS) By Carol GlatzCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The papal coat of arms has undergone a few major adjustments to more clearly reflect the symbolism of Mary and St. Joseph. The five-pointed star has been replaced with an eight-pointed star, and the spikenard flower looks more like a flower rather than a bunch of grapes, as it did in its original form. The Vatican published the new coat of arms on its website March 27. Italian Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, an expert on heraldry,...

[big snip] Many Jesuits have been lukewarm at best ...the distrust stems from Francis's six years as Jesuit provincial of Argentina ...He was fiercely opposed to liberation theology. "As a provincial, he was extremely strict and fairly conservative, which goes against the grain of the society," said [historian Michael] Walsh. Fr. Jose Maria Sang, who recalls his former mentor as an earnest, well-prepared teacher with a strong spiritual orientation, also believes that those seeking to pigeonhole the new pope as conservative or progressive are missing the point. "These terms are political, not religious," he said. "It is better to look...

Pope Francis has opted for the simpler surroundings of the Domus Santa Marta hotel-style residence rather than the traditional palatial papal quarters Continue reading the main story Pope Francis What does a pope do? New priorities Break with past The Pope's inbox Pope Francis has decided to shun a grand papal apartment on the top floor of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace in favour of a modest two-room residence. His spokesman said he was "trying out this type of simple living" in a communal building with other priests. In doing so he has broken a tradition which is more than a...

Having just gone to confession after mass this morning, it was not my intention to get into a little tiff with a media outlet on Twitter, but being who I am, I couldn’t let it go when I saw one of those lazy, thoughtless sneers cross my timeline, to the effect that Pope Francis (good guy) was refusing to stay in (bad guy) “Pope Benedict’s luxurious apartments.�I needed to disabuse the writer of the notion that Pope Benedict owned anything, including a “luxurious apartment� but that the papal apartment in the Vatican was simply that — the apartment of whoever...

Wael Salibi moved to Rome in September 2012. Photo courtesy of Wael Salibi. Rome, Italy, Mar 26, 2013 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Syrian Christian who fled the fighting in his country believes that the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum will help promote Christian unity and raise awareness of the growing turmoil in the Middle East. “This will raise more awareness because the situation in Syria is dangerous, especially for Christians,� said Wael Salibi, a Christian Syrian who moved to Italy in September to flee the violence. “Christians know they will rise again like...

Forty-nine young people, the inmates of the Roman borstal, Casal del Marmo, are preparing to receive an extraordinary gift. Pope Francis will go there in the afternoon of Holy Thursday, 28 March, to celebrate the Mass of the Lord's Supper. A joyful atmosphere of expectation pervades the institute. Such an important visit had certainly not been on the cards. Above all, there had been no expectation of so suddenly touching the heart of the Pope whom they do not yet know. “The young people's enthusiasm”, Liana Giambartolomei, the principal, told us, “must be linked to the very fact that they...

Hours before his election, Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis made ​​a strong criticism of the Church and urged his colleagues to draw cardinals from reverie and work with the Gospel in the geographical peripheries of the world as well as with those in existential pain, sin and ignorance . Cardinal Jaime Ortega, archbishop of Havana, revealed the contents of a document containing the intervention delivered by his counterpart Jorge Bergoglio, before being elected Pontiff.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) is greeted by Pope Francis in Saint Peter's Basilica after his inauguration at the Vatican, in a picture released by Osservatore Romano March 19, 2013. Vice President Joe Biden attended mass and received communion on Sunday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York where the mass was celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, with his omnipresent smile, was back at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Palm Sunday mass — his first return to the pulpit since the conclave that elected Pope Francis.

St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop born in 1094, reportedly was summoned to Rome by Pope Innocent II. While there, tradition holds that he had a vision in which details were revealed to him about all of the future popes. After he wrote the vision and gave it to the Pope, his document was filed in the Catholic Church archives and was left forgotten until it was discovered by Arnold de Wyon, a Benedictine historian, in 1590. In 1595, de Wyon published St. Malachy's vision in his Lignum Vitae.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of the conclave that elected him, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. "He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple," but allows him "to live in community with others," both the permanent residents -- priests and bishops who work at the Vatican -- as well as guests coming to the Vatican for meetings and conferences, Father Lombardi said March...

Half of Freeperdom seems to have been caught up in the speculation that Pope Benedict XVI's successor would be Peter the Roman, the final pope before the end of the world. But the gospel plainly said that you shall not know the day nor the hour. How can end-of-the-world prophecies be true AND the gospel be true? Simple: the end-of-the-world prophecies must be fulfilled in secret. But how? Simple: Pope Benedict XVI is still the pope! Sure, other popes have resigned, but they quickly died afterward. Benedict hasn't even left the Vatican! Think about it: Pope Francis won't even wear...

Different Marxist factions had different ideas about how best to go about this. The Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci drew a distinction between what he called a "war of manoeuvre" and a "war of position." The war of manoeuvre was the Stalinist model. One simply used political violence to achieve one's ends. But Gramsci thought this would not work in the more highly developed Western countries. For these countries, he recommended a war of position. A war of position is one in which one first identifies "switch-points of social power" and then one seeks to peacefully take control of those switch-points....

The following is a transcript of an interview between an atheist American journalist and then-Cardinal Bergolio. It is clear why the interview was never broadcast. In it, Cardinal Bergoglio makes mincemeat of the typical leftist interview techniques of so many people in the broadcast media. CAMERA ON / BEGIN TRANSCRIPT REPORTER: Welcome Cardinal. BERGOGLIO: Thank you. Happy to speak with you. REPORTER: Well, let me get into it directly. Last conclave, you were almost elected Pope. Can this happen again? BERGOGLIO: What? That I will almost be the Pope, again? REPORTER: No. Will you be the next Pope? BERGOGLIO: Friend,...

In his first address on the world’s affairs to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis was very clear about one thing: no one should assume that because he is devoted to the poor and the goal of peace in the world, that he deviates from the substance of the message of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. On Friday, the newly elected pontiff expressed serious concern for the “spiritual poverty” of the world as represented by a rejection of both God and objective standards of morality. Borrowing a phrase from Benedict, Pope Francis told representatives from 180 nations...

(Vatican Radio) Speaking exclusively to Vatican Radio, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., reveals the details of this morning’s historic encounter between Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, an encounter he has described as a moment of profound and elevated communion:“The helicopter landed in Castel Gandolfo heliport, at about 12:15 and the car with the retired Pope approached the helicopter landing site. The Holy Father alighted: he was accompanied by the Substitute [Secretary of State] Msgr. Becciu, by Msgr. Sapienza and Msgr. Alfred Xuereb. As the Pope alighted, the Pope Emeritus approached...