Philip Pullella is a reporter for Reuters.
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Nicaragua Closes Vatican Embassies
Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes leads a mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral, as a suspension of diplomatic ties between Nicaragua and the Vatican has been proposed according to a Nicaragua’s foreign ministry statement, in Managua, Nicaragua March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has ordered the closure of the Vatican Embassy in Managua and that of the Nicaraguan Embassy to the Vatican in Rome, a senior Vatican source said on Sunday.
Pope Francis Marks 10th Anniversary with Mass and Podcast
Pope Francis attends the Ash Wednesday mass at the Santa Sabina Basilica in Rome on February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
Pope Francis marks 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church on Monday celebrating Mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel where he has lived since his election.
‘With Shame and Unambiguously’ Pope Begs Forgiveness for Indigenous Schools
Pope Francis is welcomed by some elders of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples during his visit to the Church dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows a Edmonton, July 25, 2022. Vatican Media/Catholic Press Photo.
Pope Francis on Monday made good on a promise to apologize to Canada’s native people on their home land for the Church’s role in schools where Indigenous children were abused, branding forced cultural assimilation “evil” and a “disastrous error.”
Vatican Radically Overhauls Investment Policies
A general view is seen as Pope Francis holds a mass in St. Peter’s Square for the World Meeting of Families at the Vatican, June 25, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
The Vatican on Tuesday issued an overarching investments policy to ensure they are ethical, green, low-risk, and avoid weapons industries or health sectors involved in abortion, contraception, or embryonic stem cells.
Pope Francis to Give Women Role in Selecting Bishops
Pope Francis speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters, at the Vatican, July 2, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis said he wants to give women more top-level positions in the Holy See and disclosed that for the first time he would name women to a previously all-male Vatican committee that helps him select the world’s bishops.
Pope Francis Defends Vatican’s Compromise With Chinese Government
Pope Francis speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters, at the Vatican, July 2, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis said that while the Vatican’s secret and contested agreement with China on the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops is not ideal, he hopes it can be renewed in October because the church takes the long view.
Ukrainians Want Russians Removed From Pope’s Good Friday Procession
People take part in the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession led by Pope Francis during Good Friday celebrations at Rome’s Colosseum on April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
The Vatican’s decision to have both Ukrainians and Russians take part in Pope Francis’ “Way of the Cross” procession on Friday has caused friction with Ukrainian Catholic leaders, who want it to be reconsidered.
Pope Honors Journalists, Says He’s Willing to Visit Kyiv
Pope Francis holds a news conference aboard the papal plane on his flight back after visiting Malta, April 3, 2022.
Pope Francis paid tribute on Sunday to journalists killed during the Ukraine war saying he hoped God would reward them for serving the common good whatever side they were on.
Pope Francis Apologizes to Canadian Indigenous for Wrongs at Residential Schools
Indigenous delegates from Canada's First Nations pose for a photo with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican on March 31, 2022. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Pope Francis apologized to Canadian Indigenous peoples on Friday for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse.
Canada Indigenous Meet Pope, Ask for Residential School Records
Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron poses for a group picture alongside Métis Residential School survivor Angie Crerar, 85, and other Indigenous delegates from Canada's First Nations after a meeting with Pope Francis near St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane.
Survivors of Canada’s residential schools on Monday asked Pope Francis for unfettered access to church records on the institutions where Indigenous children were abused and their culture denied.
How Russia's Ukraine Invasion Is Splintering Global Orthodox Church
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the day of the 11th anniversary of his enthronement in Moscow, Russia February 1, 2020. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS
Russian Patriarch Kirill's full-throated blessing for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an internal rebellion that experts say is unprecedented.
Vatican Hopes for ‘Glimmer of Conscience’ As Russia Invades Ukraine
A woman places flowers outside the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine. February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
The Vatican, in its first comment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on Thursday, said it hoped that those who hold the destiny of the world in their hands would have a “glimmer of conscience.”
Pope Benedict XVI Apologizes to Abuse Victims But Denies Cover-up
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives at the airport for his return flight to the Vatican. Pope Benedict on Tuesday asked victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for forgiveness but rejected allegations that he was involved in any cover-up. Reuters
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Tuesday asked victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for forgiveness but rejected allegations that he was involved in any cover-up. The retired pontiff was responding to an independent report, released on January 20, which chronicles decades of alleged abuse and misconduct in the archdiocese of Munich, which he led as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from 1977 and 1982.
LGBTQ Doctrine Needs ‘Fundamental Revision,’ Catholic Cardinal Says
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich S.J., Archbishop of Luxembourg, (in mask) greets Pope Francis at the opening of the Synodal Path at the Vatican Oct. 9, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
A prominent liberal cardinal who leads a body representing European bishops has called for “fundamental revision” in Catholic teaching on homosexuality, and said it is wrong to fire Church workers for being LGBTQ.
Ex-Pope Benedict Acknowledges Faulty Testimony in German Abuse Case
Former pope Benedict gestures at the Munich Airport before his departure to Rome on June 22, 2020. Sven Hoppe/Pool via REUTERS
Former Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged on Monday he had been at a 1980 meeting over a sexual abuse case when he was archbishop of Munich, saying he mistakenly told German investigators he was not there.
Pope Backs COVID Vaccine Campaigns, Warns of Misinformation
Pope Francis meets with diplomats from more than 180 countries, at the Vatican, January 10, 2022. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Pope Francis on Monday condemned “baseless” ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, backing national immunization campaigns and calling health care a moral obligation.
Pope Says He’s Willing To Meet Orthodox Patriarch in Russia
Pope Francis prepares to depart from the Athens International Airport, in Athens, Greece, December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Pope Francis said on Monday he was willing to go to Moscow to meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill “brother to brother” in what would be the first trip by a pope to Russia.
Pope Francis Tells Governments Not to Use Migrants as Pawns
Pope Francis looks on as he holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall, at the Vatican, Nov. 24, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis said on Monday that migrants were being exploited as “pawns” on a political chessboard in an apparent reference to the crisis at the Belarus border.
Thousands of migrants are stuck on the European Union’s eastern frontier in what the EU says is a crisis Minsk (Belarus’ capital city) engineered by distributing Belarusian visas in the Middle East, flying them in and letting them go to the border.
‘Are We Prepared for the Adventure?’ Asks Pope at Launch of Synod
Pope Francis leads a mass to open the synod of bishops in Vatican City, October 10, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis on Sunday launched a two-year worldwide consultative process that could change the way the Roman Catholic Church makes decisions and leave its mark long after his pontificate is over.
Proponents see the initiative called “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” as an opportunity to change the church’s power dynamics and give a greater voice to lay Catholics, including women, and people on the margins of society.
Conservatives say the three-stage process is a waste of time, may erode the hierarchical structure of the 1.3 billion member church, and in the long run could dilute traditional doctrine.
Yes, Spider-Man Met the Pope
Pope Francis greets Mattia Villardita, who was dressed as Spiderman, after the general audience, at the Vatican, June 23, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
A different type of participant dropped in on Pope Francis' general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday: Spider-Man.
A man dressed in a full, skin-tight, red, black and blue costume of the comic book and film character — including head cover — sat in the VIP section of the audience in Vatican's San Damaso Courtyard.