Pope francis

Pope Francis has tweeted his support for Alfie Evans, after the parents of the critically ill British baby lost a court battle to keep their child on life support. Tom Evans and Kate James had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool from pulling the plug on their 22-month-old son, afflicted with a rare degenerative neurological condition, but lost their legal battle in late March.In his tweet Wednesday, the pope said he hoped that “everything necessary may be done in order to continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans, and that the deep suffering of his parents may be heard.” He added that he was praying for the child, his family and all involved.As it did with the case of young Charlie Gard, the Vatican’s Bambino Gesù hospital offered to treat Alfie, even though consultants from the hospital agreed that there was no chance of curing him after visiting Alfie in … [Read more...] about Pope Francis Tweets Support for Alfie Evans, Ordered to Be Taken Off Life Support

Cardinal Raymond Burke has once again voiced deep concern over the direction the Catholic Church is taking under Pope Francis, saying that the pope “not only refuses to clarify things” by clearly proclaiming Catholic doctrine but also “feeds confusion” in the Church. In an interview with La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, the American cardinal—a prominent canon lawyer who formerly headed up the Vatican’s highest court—took recent media reports of the pope’s denial of the existence of hell as his point of departure.The pope’s latest interview with Eugenio Scalfari, made public on Holy Thursday, “went beyond what is tolerable,” the cardinal declared. “For a famous atheist to claim to announce a revolution in the teaching of the Catholic Church, claiming to speak in the name of the pope, denying the immortality of the human soul and the existence of hell, has been a source of deep scandal not only for many Catholics but … [Read more...] about Cardinal Burke: Pope Francis ‘Feeds Confusion in the Church’

The first gift that the risen Christ offers his followers is the forgiveness of sins, Pope Francis said in his homily Sunday, when the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of divine mercy. The pope recalled that when Jesus first appeared to his disciples on the evening of Easter Sunday, he breathed on them, granting them the gift of the Holy Spirit as well as the power to forgive sins, in a scene evoked by the readings for the day.The gospel teaches us how to “touch today with our hand the mercy of Jesus” by stressing that “the very evening of Easter, soon after rising from the dead, Jesus begins by granting the Spirit for the forgiveness of sins,” Francis said. To experience love, we need to begin by letting ourselves be forgiven, Francis said. Since “going to confession may seem difficult,” we can be tempted to do what the disciples did in the Gospel, “to barricade ourselves behind closed doors,” he added. “They did it out of … [Read more...] about Pope Francis: The First Gift of the Risen Christ Is ‘Forgiveness of Sins’

Pope Francis took advantage of midday prayers before some 50,000 people to condemn the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, citing “terrible reports” of dozens of dead, including women and children. Following his Easter prayer of the Regina Caeli in Saint Peter’s Square, the pontiff denounced the recent chemical bombings, saying that “nothing, nothing can justify the use of such extermination tools against helpless people and populations.”The pope’s words referenced an attack by Syrian forces on an opposition holdout in Eastern Ghouta Saturday, which reportedly killed at least 70 people. According to news accounts, first responders have accused forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of using “poisonous chlorine gas” in air strikes targeting Douma, the last rebel-held town near Damascus. “Seventy people suffocated to death and hundreds are still suffocating,” said Raed al-Saleh, head of the White Helmets, a volunteer … [Read more...] about Pope Francis Condemns Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

Every human life is equally sacred and inviolable, including that of unborn children, Pope Francis said in a lengthy text released in the Vatican Monday. “Our defense of the innocent unborn,” Francis said in his new apostolic exhortation on holiness, titled Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), “needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.”Nonetheless, a passionate commitment to the pro-life cause doesn’t mean that other issues are lacking in value, the pontiff said, urging people to engage in causes where they feel called to make a difference and not to criticize others who pursue other worthy issues. It is a “harmful ideological error” to question the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist, he said.All human lives … [Read more...] about Pope Francis Calls for ‘Clear, Firm and Passionate’ Defense of Unborn Children