Pope Francis Latest News

These are the latest news about Pope Francis, the Vatican, and the Catholic Church, provided by the Vatican staff of Catholic News Agency, a service of EWTN News.

The Latest

The Vatican announced the erection of the Weifang diocese on Jan. 29, 2024, the day of the consecration of the diocese’s first bishop, Bishop Anthony Sun Venjun.

Pope Francis creates ‘new’ diocese in China, accepting borders drawn by Beijing

Jan 29, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis established the diocese on April 20, 2023, “in the desire to promote... Read more

Pope Francis delivers the Sunday Angelus from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, Jan. 28, 2024.

Pope Francis: ‘The devil always takes away your freedom’

Jan 28, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis encouraged people to learn how to “say ‘no’ to the temptations of evil before they creep into the... Read more

The scene outside a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, where a reported armed attack took place on Jan. 28, 2024.

One person killed in shooting at Catholic church in Istanbul, manhunt underway

Jan 28, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, the apostolic vicar of Istanbul, told EWTN News on Jan. 28 that a parishioner was killed “during... Read more

Mary Rose and Ryan Verret.

Pope Francis names U.S. Catholic marriage advocates as advisers to Vatican family dicastery

Jan 26, 2024

By Daniel Payne

The Holy Father named Ryan and Mary Rose Verret of the marriage ministry Witness to Love as consultants to the... Read more

Pope Francis leads an ecumenical second vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Jan. 25, 2024.

Christian unity must be rooted in prayer, pope says at ecumenical vespers

Jan 25, 2024

By Peter Pinedo

Marking the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis hosted an ecumenical vespers at Rome’s Basilica... Read more

Canadian sister Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

Canadian religious sister Mother Marie-Léonie Paradis cleared for canonization

Jan 25, 2024

By Francesca Pollio Fenton

Pope Francis signed a decree on Jan. 24 allowing for the canonization of Canadian sister Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of... Read more

Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.

Pope Francis: Avarice is a ‘sickness of the heart, not of the wallet’

Jan 24, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

In his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis said the preoccupation with the accumulation of material goods reflects a greater “pathological... Read more

Young people greet Pope Francis as he arrives at the World Youth Day welcoming ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 3, 2023.

Pope Francis recalls ‘the primary reason’ for the new edition of YouCat

Jan 23, 2024

By Andrés Henríquez

The full text was published yesterday by the Italian newspaper La Stampa and is titled “The Password for Joy.” Read more

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Dictatorship in Nicaragua expels three priests; exiled bishop meets with Pope Francis

Jan 22, 2024

By Walter Sánchez Silva

Researcher Martha Patricia Molina reported that the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega expelled from Nicaragua three priests from the same... Read more

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.

Cardinal explains how African rejection of Fiducia Supplicans was handled

Jan 22, 2024

By Walter Sánchez Silva

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo recently recounted how the rejection of the blessing of homosexual couples was handled in Africa and at... Read more

Pope Francis receives an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, on the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Finland: a laboratory of ecumenism and Christian unity 

Jan 22, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Finland is a traditionally Lutheran country, but in many ways it retains unique links with the Catholic tradition that has... Read more

Pope Francis meets with the journalists who cover the Vatican in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 22, 2024.

Pope Francis thanks Vatican journalists for reporting on scandals in the Church

Jan 22, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office met the pope in a private audience at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace... Read more

Pope Francis presides over Mass for the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 21, 2024.

Pope Francis calls for release of 6 religious sisters taken hostage in Haiti

Jan 21, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Armed gunmen took the religious sisters hostage in Port-au-Prince on Friday during a bus hijacking. Read more

Pope Francis  announced the start of a Year of Prayer in his Angelus address from the window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Jan. 21, 2024.

Pope Francis announces Year of Prayer to prepare for 2025 Jubilee

Jan 21, 2024

By Courtney Mares

In his Angelus address, the pope said that a Year of Prayer starting Jan. 21 will be “a year dedicated... Read more

Pope Francis presides over Mass for the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 21, 2024.

Pope Francis: Return to God’s word rather than social media’s ‘violence of words’

Jan 21, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Speaking of the “immense power” that the word of God can unleash in people’s lives, Pope Francis encouraged us to... Read more

Pope Francis blesses a mosaic of St. Charbel after his general audience Nov. 15, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square.

St. Charbel mosaic blessed by Pope Francis installed in Vatican grottoes

Jan 19, 2024

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

The mosaic was installed in the grottoes located beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Read more

Pope Francis receives a delegation from Vietnam’s Communist Party government at the Vatican on Jan. 18, 2024.

Could Pope Francis become the first pope to visit Vietnam?

Jan 18, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Vietnam has one of the largest Catholic populations among countries never visited by a pope. Pope Francis is keen to... Read more

Pope Paul VI meets Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I at his residence of the apostolic delegation on Jan. 5, 1964. The meeting between the two church leaders ended a 900-year standoff between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity commemorates historic meeting of two lungs of the Church

Jan 18, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

The theme for 2024 is “You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself.” Read more

Pope Francis delivers a speech to all of the world’s ambassadors to the Vatican on Jan. 8, 2024.

Pope: World Economic Forum meeting an opportunity to find ‘ways to build a better world’

Jan 17, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

On the occasion of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Pope Francis sent a... Read more

Pope Francis delivers a message at his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.

Pope Francis issues new regulations setting spending limits for Vatican offices

Jan 17, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis amended the Vatican’s financial regulations on Tuesday, enshrining a spending limit into law. Read more