Free Republic

ROME — The Church is much more “alive” outside of the Western world, and pastors need to become less “Eurocentric” in their vision of Christianity, Pope Francis said Wednesday. Reflecting upon his recently completed apostolic visit to Asia and Oceania, the pope expressed his concern that “in thinking of the Church, we are still too Eurocentric, or as they say, ‘Western.’” In reality, “the Church is much bigger, much bigger than Rome and Europe, much bigger!” he said, addressing the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience.

Joe Biden appeared to convey what looked to some observers as an awkward story regarding a black Major League Baseball player when he met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday. News of the story comes as reports noted that the Vatican canceled a live television broadcast of the meeting between the second Catholic president and the pontiff. “You’re the famous African-American baseball player in America,” Biden says as he leans in to speak to Francis after giving him a presidential challenge coin. Biden was talking about Satchel Paige, a trailblazing black MLB pitcher who he said could not get...

After Jason Jones here at The Stream called on Pope Francis to repent for the Vatican’s silence on ISIS, something extraordinary happened. Jones’ column got translated and reprinted all over the Arab world. It got to the Vatican. And Pope Francis included a short apology in his Tweet stream, as he visited Iraq. Chalk that up as a win for moral clarity. But let’s press the question further. What exactly do Church leaders need to atone for? Pope Francis, leader of the world’s largest church, just visited Mosul. That was the epicenter of ISIS’s long string of atrocities. The Terrorists...

Pope Francis has taken another shot at wall-building politicians, telling thousands of Catholics in Panama gathered for World Youth Day that "builders of walls sow fear" and "divide people." "We know that the father of lies, the devil, prefers a community divided and bickering," Francis told a crowd of tens of thousands of youth Thursday night at a seaside park in Panama City. "This is the criteria to divide people: The builders of bridges and the builders of walls, those builders of walls sow fear and look to divide people. What do you want to be?" When the crowd replied...

The U.S. ambassador to the Vatican said that during Pope Francis’ visit to the United States next month, he expects the Pope will urge the U.S. to embrace its history of welcoming immigrants.