By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jun 14, 2024 / 07:20 am Pope Francis got a chuckle from an audience of comedians on Friday morning after he suggested throwing away his prepared remarks for simply making people laugh with a silly gesture. Following the advice of St. Thomas Aquinas, who said, “Those …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jun 14, 2024 / 11:00 am Pope Francis stressed that human dignity requires that the decisions of artificial intelligence (AI) be under the control of human beings as he participated for the first time in a G7 summit on Friday. “Faced with the marvels of machines, …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jun 13, 2024 / 09:11 am Pope Francis will hold bilateral meetings on Friday with nine world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, at the G7 summit in southern Italy, the Vatican confirmed Thursday. The pontiff will also hold bilateral meetings with other notable leaders, including …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jun 8, 2024 / 08:11 am It’s no joke: Pope Francis will take the mic in front of over 100 comics, stand-up comedians, and humorists, including Americans Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon, at the Vatican next Friday. Jim Gaffigan, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, Tig Notaro, and …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jun 6, 2024 / 10:00 am Pope Francis this week prayed for men who want, start, or needlessly prolong wars, with the prayer coming ahead of the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Allied landings in Normandy. “People want peace!” the pope wrote in a June 5 …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jun 4, 2024 / 13:52 pm Pope Francis has reportedly encouraged a 22-year-old gay man to continue to pursue a vocation to the priesthood after he was not accepted into a Catholic seminary. According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, the pope responded to an email …

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2023 / 07:00 am It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher. One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Nov 13, 2023 / 04:55 am Critically ill British infant Indi Gregory died overnight on Monday after her life support was removed over the weekend following a U.K. court order. The 8-month-old Gregory died in her mother’s arms in a hospice at 1:45 a.m. on Nov. …

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Nov 8, 2023 / 11:50 am The Holy See has signed an interfaith declaration on taking action to protect the environment during a religious summit held ahead of the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, signed the statement on …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Nov 8, 2023 / 14:25 pm The Vatican’s doctrine office has said an adult who identifies as transgender can receive the sacrament of baptism under the same conditions as any adult, as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or confusion to other Catholics. …