Vatican City

VATICAN CITY, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Two bishops from mainland China are due to attend a major Vatican meeting next month, officials said on Thursday, a positive sign after recent tensions between the Holy See and Beijing.

The two bishops were chosen by their brother bishops in China, meaning they likely had approval from the Communist government, which holds great sway over the Chinese Catholic Church.

The two are Anthony Yao Shun of Jining and Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun, officials said at a press conference.

VATICAN CITY, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Eastern Rite Catholic bishops bluntly told Pope Francis at a meeting on Wednesday that some of his comments about Russia had caused great pain and were being used by Moscow to justify a "a murderous ideology".

In a statement that was remarkable for its candour, they said their two-hour session with the pope at the Vatican was a "frank conversation".

VATICAN CITY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has lamented what he called a "reactionary" Catholic Church in the United States, where he said political ideology has replaced faith in some cases.

In the 10 years since his election, Francis has been criticised by conservative sectors of the U.S. Church who are opposed to reforms such as giving women and lay Catholics more roles and making the Church more welcoming and less judgmental towards some, including LGBT people.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis made the first foreign trip of his papacy, to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013, he urged young people to make a “mess” in their local churches, to shake things up even if it ruffled the feathers of their bishops.

As he embarks this week on another edition of World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis in many ways has taken his own advice to heart. After 10 years as pope, Francis is accelerating his reform agenda and making revolutionary changes in personnel and policy that are definitely shaking things up.

VATICAN CITY, July 30 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday called on Russia to reverse its decision to abandon the Black Sea grain deal, under which it had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the ongoing war.

Russia walked out of the Black Sea deal on July 17 after saying its demands to ease sanctions on its own grain and fertilizer exports had not been met. Moscow also complained that not enough grain had reached poor countries.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong — places where Catholics are a small minority — as he continues to leave his mark on the body of churchmen who will select his successor.

The pope announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on Sept. 30.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Friday with imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s wife Stella, who said the pope’s gesture in receiving her was evidence of his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight” and concern over her husband’s suffering.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the audience, Stella Assange recalled that Francis had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period.

VATICAN CITY, June 25 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday offered prayers and solidarity to the family of a Vatican schoolgirl who went missing 40 years ago in one of Italy's most enduring mysteries.

Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican usher, failed to return home on June 22, 1983, after a music lesson in central Rome.

The case has drawn renewed worldwide attention following the release of the Netflix series "Vatican Girl" late last year.

VATICAN CITY, June 15 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has ordered Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the private secretary and long-time aide of the late Pope Benedict, to return to his native Germany by the end of the month without any new assignment, the Vatican said on Thursday.

A Vatican statement put an end speculation about what role Gaenswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have in the Church.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis warned the Vatican’s missionary fundraisers on Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship.