Philip Pullella is a reporter for Reuters.
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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.
Pope Orders Pay Cuts for Cardinals, Clerics to Save Jobs
Pope Francis leads Angelus prayer at the library of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican March 21, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
In a seven-point preface to the decree explaining why action was needed now, Francis said the pandemic "has negatively affected all the sources of income of the Holy See and the State of Vatican City."
Vatican Decrees That Catholic Church Cannot Bless Same-Sex Unions
Pope Francis listens during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 14, 2021. Tiziana Fabi/Pool via REUTERS
The ruling was a response to practices in some countries where parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions.
Report Into Disgraced Ex-U.S. Cardinal Shows Failings by Popes, Top Clerics
Saint Peter's Square a day before the Vatican releases its long-awaited report into disgraced ex-U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, at the Vatican, November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
With testimony from 90 witnesses and dozens of documents, letters, and transcripts from Vatican and U.S. Catholic church archives, the 460-page document offers a remarkable reckoning by an institution known for its secrecy, portraying a man long able to convince superiors of his innocence.
Pope Francis Calls for Civil Union Rights for Same-Sex Couples
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I arrive for an inter-religious prayer service in Rome, Italy, on October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
"Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family," says Francis in a new film.
Coronavirus Is No Excuse to Exploit Workers, Pope Says
Pope Francis holds weekly general audience virtually from the Library of the Apostolic Palace due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican April 15, 2020. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Pope Francis praised the work of nurses around the world on Tuesday, saying the coronavirus crisis had shown how vital their service is, as he appealed to governments to invest more in health care.
On Earth Day, Pope Says Nature Will Not Forgive our Trespasses
Pope Francis greets members of the media after leading a Mass and the Regina Coeli prayer in Rome's Santo Spirito in Sassia church, in Rome, April 19, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for protection of the environment on Wednesday's 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, saying the coronavirus pandemic had shown that some challenges had to be met with a global response.
Pope Opens Holy Week Amid Pandemic, Says Now Is the Time to Serve
Pope Francis holds a palm branch as he leads the Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Basilica without public participation due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican April 5, 2020. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
The symbolic procession was only several meters long and a few potted olive trees were brought in.
Pope Holds His First Ever Virtual General Audience with Italy on Lockdown
An empty St. Peter's Square as Pope Francis gives his weekly general audience via transmitted video a day after the Vatican closed the square, seen from Rome, Italy March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Pope Francis, holed up in the Vatican by Italy's coronavirus epidemic, held his first virtual general audience on Wednesday, thanking medical staff but urging the world not to forget the plight of Syrian refugees.
Pope Francis: Give Up Trolling for Lent
Pope Francis waves during the weekly general audience at Vatican, February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
The pope made his appeal to tone things down while speaking to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square