Philip Pullella is a reporter for Reuters.

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China-Vatican Deal on Bishops Ready for Signing

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 02-01-2018

Faithful from a Catholic church take part in a Christmas parade in Shanghai, China December 24, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song

"Afterwards we will still be like a bird in a cage but the cage will be bigger," he said. It is not easy. Suffering will continue. We will have to fight for every centimeter to increase the size of the cage," he said.

Pope Sends Envoy to Chile to Investigate Bishop Accused of Abuse Cover-Up

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 01-30-2018

Pope Francis celebrates a mass at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy, January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
 

Barros has been accused of protecting his former mentor, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was found guilty in a Vatican investigation in 2011 of abusing teenage boys over many years. 

Pope Francis Condemns ‘Evil’ of Fake News, Calls for ‘Education for Truth’

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 01-24-2018

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square. Jan. 24, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the "evil" of fake news, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative "snake tactics" that foment division to serve political and economic interests.

Pope Urges Hope in Visit to Peru Area Devastated by Floods

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to celebrate a mass at Huanchaco beach in Trujillo, Peru Jan. 20, 2018. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares
 

Pope Francis, visiting an area of Peru that was devastated last year by heavy rains linked to climate change and plagued by gang violence, urged people not to lose hope.

Pope Francis: Protect the Amazon from ‘Consumerist Greed’

Pope Francis (R) greets a member of an indigenous group of the Peruvian Amazon region, at the Coliseum Madre de Dios, in Puerto Maldonado, Peru January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero

"The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present," the pope told a crowd of indigenous people from more than 20 groups including the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Shipibos, Ashaninkas, and Juni Kuin.

Pope Francis Asks for Forgiveness for ‘Great and Painful Evil’ of Church Sex Abuse in Chile

Pope Francis speaks at the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 16, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
 

Pope Francis publicly expressed "pain and shame" on Tuesday over the rape and molestation of children by priests in Chile and later listened, prayed, and cried at a private meeting with victims.

Pope's ‘State of World’ Speech Urges Nuclear Ban, Dialogue in Korea

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 01-08-2018

U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich and her husband talk with Pope Francis during the traditional exchange of the New Year greetings in the Regal Room at the Vatican January 8, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Medichini/Pool

"Nuclear weapons must be banned," Francis said, quoting a document issued by Pope John XXIII at the height of the Cold War and adding that there is "no denying that the conflagration could be started by some chance and unforeseen circumstance".

In Christmas Message, Pope Urges Christians to See Jesus in Refugee, Migrant Children

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 12-28-2017

Image via Osservatore Romano/Handout/Reuters.

Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, urged people to see the defenseless baby Jesus in the children who suffer the most from war, migration, and natural calamities caused by man today.

Pope Francis: The Poor 'Open to Us the Way to Heaven'

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 11-20-2017

Pope Francis speaks before sharing a lunch with the poor following a special mass to mark the new World Day of the Poor in Paul VI's hall at the Vatican, November 19, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi

Francis celebrated a Mass marking the Roman Catholic Church's first yearly World Day of the Poor, which the pope established to draw the attention of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to the neediest.

Pope Denounces Health Care Inequality in Rich Countries

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 11-17-2017

Pope Francis greets a man as he visits a first aid camp set up on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in front of Saint Peter's square in Rome, Italy November 16, 2017. Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters

Francis did not mention any countries. Healthcare is a big issue in the United States, where President Donald Trump has vowed to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, introduced by his predecessor, Barack Obama, which aimed to make it easier for lower-income households to get health insurance.

Pope Francis: Humanity Will ‘Go Down’ If It Does Not Address Climate Change

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 09-11-2017

Pope Francis talks to journalists during a press conference aboard a plane to Rome at the end of his visit to Colombia September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Medichini/Pool. 

"If someone is doubtful that this is true, they should ask scientists. They are very clear. These are not opinions made on the fly. They are very clear. Then each person can decide and history will judge the decisions," he said.

Pope Francis Adds Fourth Path to Catholic Sainthood: Saving Lives

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 07-11-2017


FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis walks at the end of a canonization mass for seven new saints in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 16, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile /File Photo
 

Pope Francis made one of the most significant changes in centuries to the Roman Catholic Church's saint-making procedures on Tuesday, adding a new category for people who give their lives to save others.

Vatican Scraps Plan for Pope to Go to South Sudan

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 05-30-2017

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis waves as he arrives at the ILVA steel plant during his pastoral visit in Genoa, Italy, May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino

The Vatican said on Tuesday it had scrapped tentative plans for Pope Francis to make a visit this year to South Sudan, which has been hit by civil war, famine, and a refugee crisis. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the trip "was not for this year" but did not say when it might now take place.

Pope Asks Trump to Be Peacemaker, Gives Him Copies of Nonviolence Message and ‘Laudato Si’

Pope Francis meets U.S. President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican, May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandra Tarantino/Pool

Pope Francis urged U.S. President Donald Trump to be a peacemaker at their highly anticipated first meeting on Wednesday, and Trump promised he would not forget the pontiff's message. Under clear blue skies, Trump, who exchanged sharp words with the pope during the U.S. election campaign last year, received a tribute from the Swiss Guard in a Vatican courtyard when he arrived.

Pope Names Five New Cardinals, All From Outside Italy and the Vatican

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 05-22-2017

Image via Reuters/Gregorio Borgia/Pool

The fact that none of the five are Italian, and none hold Vatican positions, underscores Francis' conviction that the Church is a global institution that should become increasingly less Italian-centric.

 

Pope Francis on U.S.-North Korea Escalation: ‘We Are Talking About the Future of Humanity’

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 04-29-2017

Pope Francis talks to journalists during a press conference on his return flight from Cairo to Rome April 29, 2017. REUTERS/Gregorio Borgia/Pool

Pope Francis said on Saturday a third country, such as Norway, should try to mediate the dispute between North Korea and Washington, to cool a situation that had become "too hot" and posed the risk of nuclear devastation. Francis said he believed "a good part of humanity" would be destroyed in any widespread war.

Pope Francis in Egypt: Say No to Hatred in ‘the Name of Religion or in the Name of God’

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 04-28-2017

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets Pope Francis upon his arrival to Cairo, Egypt April 28, 2017. The Egyptian Presidency/Handout via REUTERS

Pope Francis, starting a two-day visit to Egypt, urged Muslim leaders on Friday to unite in renouncing religious extremism at a time when Islamist militants are targeting ancient Christian communities across the Middle East. Francis's trip, aimed at improving Christian-Muslim ties, comes just three weeks after Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in two Egyptian churches.

On Maundy Thursday, Pope Washes 12 Prisoners’ Feet, Including Women and Muslim Man

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 04-13-2017

Pope Francis washes the feet of some inmates at the Paliano prison, south of Rome, Italy April 13, 2017. Osservatore Romano/Handout via REUTERS

"We are all sinners. We all have defects," the pope told the inmates, in an improvised sermon broadcast by Vatican Radio.

By washing their feet, Francis told them, he was willing to do "the work of a slave in order to sow love among us". He urged them to help each other.

Two of the 12 are serving life sentences, and the others are due to be released between 2019 and 2073.

In Unusual Omission, No Trump-Pope Meeting Planned During Italy G7

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 04-12-2017
Pope Francis blesses with holy water as he leads the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 9, 2017. Image via REUTERS/Tony Gentile.
 
 

As a matter of policy, popes meet with any head of state who requests an audience, regardless of any differences they have.

Besides being leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, the pope is a head of state. Such meetings allow for an exchange of views on world affairs and a chance for the pope to encourage ethical solutions to world problems.

Pope Francis Set to Visit Egypt Despite Palm Sunday Attacks

by Philip Pullella, Reuters 04-10-2017

Image via wlablack / Shutterstock

Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the Vatican deputy secretary of state, told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper that the events on Sunday, however tragic, "could not impede the pope from carrying out his mission of peace."