Jonathan, Obama Visit Pope

It was a busy time for His Holiness Pope Francis following the visits of two heads of state recently. First to storm the Vatican was Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan who was accompanied by his wife Patience and other top government officials. That was on Saturday, March 22. On Thursday, March 27, President Barak Obama of the United States of America took his turn. Both heads of State were visiting Pope Francis for the first time. Reports say President Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage which was recently outlawed in the country. The  Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to journalists at the Holy…

Pope Francis‎ discuss extensively on same-sex marriage with President Jonathan As Nigeria, Vatican partner in education, health

President Goodluck Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis ‎yesterday held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage law recently passed in the country. The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to newsmen yesterday at the Holy Sea after President Jonathan’s audience with the Pope as well as his tour of the Vatican City. Opara said the President used the opportunity to state Nigeria’s position on same sex-marriage while the Pope commended Jonathan’s effort in tackling the various challenges facing the country. The Pilgrims from Anambra, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, were part of President  Jonathan’s delegation to Vatican City in Rome, Italy but remained at the courtyard while the audience…

Pope Francis meets with the Blind, Deaf on Saturday

As the first pope to meet with those who are blind and deaf in an exclusive audience, Pope Francis will hold the gathering later this month — an encounter participants are highly anticipating. “I am pleased that the Pope is making the whole world aware of our world by having an audience with us for the first time,” Jakob Badde told CNA on March 10. “We have a great deficiency, and most people do not know why and what it means to us.” Badde hails from Germany — he is the son of Vatican journalist Paul Badde, former Rome correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt — and is one of the members of the…

Blesseds John Paul II and John XXIII to Be Canonized Before the End of This Year

On Friday, July 5, Pope Francis received Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where he approved the cause of several Blesseds and Venerables, most notably, Blessed John Paul II and Blessed John XXIII. Regarding Blessed John Paul II’s canonization, the Holy Father approved the second miracle attributed to the intercession of the late Pontiff. Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed reports that a Costa Rican woman was cured from a severe brain injury through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II. Regarding the significance of the approval of the miracle, Fr. Lombardi noted that “this means that we are going forward with the canonization…

Pope Francis’ First Encyclical, ”Lumen Fidei” Released

The Holy See on July 5, presented the first encyclical of Pope Francis’ papacy entitled “Lumen Fidei” (The Light of Faith). Presenting the new work was Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, along with Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. Archbishop Gerhard Muller explained the content of the encyclical, which is divided into four parts. “In the first part”, he said, “we move from the faith of Abraham, the man who recognised in the voice of God ‘a profound call which was always present at the core of his being’, to the…

Venezuelan Official Asks for Papal Mediation in Nation

Opposition Leader Requests Francis’ Help in Beginning a ‘National Dialogue’ The president of an opposition parliamentarian group in Venezuela, Acción Democrática leader Edgar Zambrano, asked Pope Francis for mediation to begin a national dialogue. Zambrano spoke with the Holy Father for a few minutes after last Wednesday’s general audience. Two days before that, Venezuela’s new president, Nicolas Maduro, met with the Pope in the Vatican. Zambrano told ZENIT that last Tuesday, he and his delegation were received by the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, to whom they explained the situation of the country and pointed out the need for Parliament to approve amnesty legislation, as a condition to move towards dialogue…

Pope to Nuncios: Be Pastors who carry Christ to the world

Below is a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s address Dear Brothers, These days, in the Year of Faith, are offered to us by the Lord as an occasion to pray together, to reflect together and to share a fraternal moment. I thank Cardinal Bertone for the words he addressed to me on your behalf, but I would like to thank each of you for your service which aids me in solicitude for all of the Churches, in the ministry of unity that is central to the Successor of Peter. You represent me in Churches spread throughout the world and with the Governments, but seeing so many of you today also gives me the…

Understanding the Year of Faith

Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, last year announced the period October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013 as “The Year of Faith” to be observed by Catholics throughout the world. Official Vatican documents, particularly “The Door of Faith”, issued by the Pope Emeritus explained that the period will enable Christ’s faithful re-discover and share with others the precious gift of faith entrusted to the Church. This re-discovery and sharing of Catholic faith is expected to be facilitated by living out the teachings of the catechism of the Catholic Church, which is rich in the systematic presentation of our faith.  It is there that we see the wealth of teaching that the church has received, safeguarded and…

Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to Pope Francis: ”Pope is an extraordinary humanity, on fire with the Spirit of Christ”

Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, met for the first time in the Vatican since they both took over leadership positions in their respective Churches mid-March. They got on very well together, according to persons accompanying them. They sat and talked together in private for over thirty minutes in the Pope’s library on June 14, with the aid of an interpreter. Afterwards they prayed together and had lunch together with their respective delegations, in the Domus Sancta Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where Pope Francis now lives. “It was a personal visit. And the private conversation with Pope Francis was very personal indeed; it was a very private discussion about the nature of…

Owerri Laity Council kicks-off Outreach visit to Parishes

-Begins with Emekuku Zone 1 In order to sensitize the laity on the need to be more active in their apostolate, the Owerri Archdiocesan Catholic Laity Council has embarked on interactive outreach visit to parishes in the Archdiocese. The outreach programme kicked-off on May 26, at Mt. Carmel Parish Emekuku for all the parishes in Zone One. Addressing representatives of the parishes in the zone, the Chairman of Owerri Archdiocesan Catholic Laity Council (OACLCN), Engr. (Prof.) C.D. Okereke (KSM) said the outreach programme was part and parcel of its work-plan in 2013 to visit parishes at zonal level to sensitize them and ensure that strong functional laity council exists in every parish/chaplaincy/church in the Archdiocese….

Pope Francis Warns Against Temptation to Worldliness

During his daily mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae, Pope Francis reminded those present that following Jesus is not a calling to power, but a calling to follow the way of the Cross. The Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Msgr. José Octavio Ruiz Arenas, president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, respectively. Also in attendance were a group of priests from the Council and staff from the Vatican Power Station and Technical Laboratory of the Governorate of Vatican carpentry, accompanied by Engineer Pier Carlo Cuscianna, Director of Technical Services of the Governorate. Placing emphasis on the Gospel of the day, the Holy Father recalled the words of Christ who…

Holy See joins war against money laundering, terrorism – Signs pact with US

The Financial Intelligence Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State (AIF), signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Washington, D.C., with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), its U.S. counterpart at the U.S. Department of Treasury. The signing of the memorandum is meant to strengthen its efforts to fight money laundering and terrorism financing globally. The Memorandum was signed by René Brülhart, Director of the AIF, and Jennifer Shasky Calvery, director of FinCEN, and will foster bi-lateral cooperation in the exchange of financial information. “This is a clear indication the Holy See and the Vatican City State take international responsibilities to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism very seriously, and that we…

Vatican to house two Popes for first time as Benedict returns

The Vatican became home to two Popes on Thursday, May 2 for the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church when Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI moved back to the city state in the wake of his resignation. Benedict has been living in Castel Gandolfo, the summer papal residence outside Rome since his shock resignation at the end of February. But it was always a temporary arrangement and on Thursday the German-born former pontiff moved into new retirement home within the Vatican gardens. The 86-year-old ex-Pope was picked up by helicopter from the ground of Castel Gandolfo, which perches on the rim of a volcanic crater lake, and flown to the Vatican, a…

Pope Emeritus returns to Vatican, welcomed by Pope Francis

  Pope Francis then greeted his successor at the door of the Mater Ecclesiae building who returned to Vatican after staying at Castel Gandolfo since his resignation took effect on February 28. The former Pope, Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican May 2, to take up residence in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building.   The media covering the Vatican were eager to receive some news about the physical condition of the retired Pope, who appeared very ailing as at the time he met with Pope Francis at Castel Gandolfo on March 23.   Benedict XVI arrived by helicopter and was met at heliport in the Vatican Gardens by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the…