The Latest Breaking News from Vatican

Defying Vatican, Flemish bishops allow blessing same-sex unions

Flemish Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday issued a document effectively allowing the blessing of same-sex unions, in direct defiance of a ruling against such practices by the Vatican's doctrinal office.

Reuters · Sep 20, 2022

Why China feels threatened by the moral authority of a 90-year-old Catholic bishop

Cardinal Joseph Zen will stand trial on Sept. 19, 2022, in Hong Kong for his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. This organization paid legal fees and medical bills for Hong Kongers protesting the Extradition Law Amendment Bill. This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to…

The Conversation · Sep 19, 2022

Ukraine claims villagers near Russian border were tortured by Putin's army

PROSECUTORS in an area of Ukraine where Russian forces recently retreated in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive are making fresh accusations…

The National (Scotland) · Sep 19, 2022

Pope: Vatican seeks talks on Nicaragua's Catholic crackdown

Pope Francis says the Vatican is in contact with the Nicaraguan government about its crackdown on the Catholic Church and hoped that “at the very least” nuns from Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity religious order would be allowed to return to the country

The Independent UK · Sep 15, 2022

Vatican sought Xi-Pope meeting in Kazakhstan, China declined - source

The Vatican told China that Pope Francis was willing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping while both leaders where in the Kazakh capital but China said there was not enough time, a Vatican source said on Thursday.

Reuters · Sep 15, 2022

Pope urged to avoid 'supermarket of religions' in Kazakhstan

Pope Francis is warning Kazakhstan’s bishops against fueling nostalgia for the past

The Independent UK · Sep 15, 2022

Q&A: Pope, Chinese leader Xi to cross paths in Kazakhstan

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Kazakhstan will overlap with that of Pope Francis, though the Vatican says there are no plans for them to meet

The Independent UK · Sep 14, 2022

Russia's pro-war patriarch conspicuously absent in pope's Kazakh trip

Pope Francis leaves on Tuesday for a peace meeting of world religious leaders in Kazakhstan marked by the conspicuous absence of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who supports the war in Ukraine.

Reuters · Sep 12, 2022

Pope heads to Kazakh interfaith congress, without patriarch

Pope Francis is traveling to Kazakhstan this week to participate in a conference of world religious leaders, with Russia's war in Ukraine clouding the visit

The Independent UK · Sep 12, 2022

Special presidential envoy asks pope to 'pray for Taiwan'

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's special envoy met Pope Francis on Sunday and asked him to "pray for Taiwan", on a trip the Taipei government has cast as a demonstration of their close relations even as the Holy See courts China.

Reuters · Sep 5, 2022