Vatican Corner 7-12-15

On Sunday July 5, 2015, Pope Francis began an eight day tour of three South American countries: Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. They are among the poorest nations in Latin America, the region of the world where 40% of all Catholics reside. As Pope, this is his second...

Vatican Corner 7-5-15

continued … Pope Francis uses poetry, prose and a steady stream of stern recriminations to urge mankind onto a path of survival in his recently released environmental encyclical. He says” very solid scientific consensus” confirms global warming and rising seas, and...

Vatican Corner 6-21-15

continued … The Catholic Church remains an important political institution in Cuba even though attendance is low. It helped negotiate the release of scores of jailed dissidents in 2011 and 2012. The Castro government has made major concessions to church authorities...

Vatican Corner 6-14-15

Pope Francis has decided that he will be visiting Cuba in September before arriving in the US for his visit to Washington D.C., New York, and Philadelphia. Back in October he personally issued an appeal in a letter to President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro...

Vatican Corner 6-7-15

    continued…On Sept. 23, 2015, in Washington D.C., Pope Francis will canonize Father Junipero Serra as a saint. Serra’s birth name was Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer and he took the name “Junipero” in honor of Saint Juniper who was a Franciscan companion of...

Vatican Corner 5-31-15

  continued…After years of prayers by Catholic nuns and controversy among American Indian groups, Pope Francis has decided that while visiting the United State in September, he will canonize as a saint, Junípero Serra, the Spanish priest who founded nine...