Articles by Francis X. Rocca

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Pope pins financial mess on 'crisis of faith'

Dec 23, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Europe's economic and financial crisis is the consequence of an "ethical crisis" and a "crisis of faith," Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday (Dec. 22), resulting in the triumph of selfishness over social responsibility.
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Pope certifies miracles for two U.S. saints

Dec 20, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) A 17th-century Native American woman who cared for the sick and elderly, and a Catholic nun who worked with lepers in Hawaii, are on the verge of becoming the newest American saints, after Pope Benedict XVI certified miracles due to their intercession, the Vatican announced Monday (Dec 19).
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Nun on verge of becoming Hawaii's second saint

Dec 07, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Catholic nun who worked with lepers is on the verge of becoming Hawaii's second canonized saint, after Vatican officials attributed a second miracle to her intercession.
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Pope: Others should be held to same abuse 'standards'

Nov 28, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from New York state that "all other institutions" in society should be held to the same "exacting standards" as the Roman Catholic Church in preventing and reporting sex abuse.

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Pope Benedict XVI calls for 'reconciliation' in Africa

Nov 22, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI ended his second papal trip to Africa on Sunday (Nov. 20) with a call for "reconciliation, justice and peace" in a troubled continent that he nonetheless called a "land of hope."
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Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law retires from prominent post

Nov 22, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Nine years after the clerical sex abuse scandal forced his resignation as archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard F. Law has stepped down from his controversial post as head of a prominent basilica in Rome.
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Benetton pulls pope-kissing ad

Nov 16, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (RNS) International clothing retailer Benetton pulled a provocative ad featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim cleric on Wednesday (Nov. 16) after the Vatican threatened legal action to protect the pope's image.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi had called the Benetton campaign a "totally unacceptable" show of "grave disrespect."
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Pope to make second trip to Africa

Nov 15, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI will make his second papal trip to Africa on Friday (Nov. 18), visiting the West African country of Benin for three days, where he is likely to address economic justice, peace-building and interfaith dialogue.

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Amid tense relations, Ireland closes embassy to the Vatican

Nov 03, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
c. 2011 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) After months of tense relations over the clergy sex abuse scandal, the Irish government announced Thursday (Nov. 3) that it will close its embassy to the Vatican.
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Pope convenes interfaith summit, but prayer is optional

Oct 27, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

c. 2011 Religion News Service

ASSISI, Italy (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI hosted some 300 representatives of world religions here on Thursday (Oct. 27) for an interfaith summit on justice and peace, with distinct changes made to the event first convened 25 years ago by Pope John Paul II.

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Vatican blasts `idolatry' of global markets

Oct 24, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Blaming the world's economic and financial crisis on an “economic liberalism that spurns rules and controls,” the Vatican on Monday (Oct. 24) released an ambitious proposal for global regulation of the financial industry and the international money supply.

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Vatican hails end of Gadhafi regime

Oct 21, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican called the death of Libya’s longtime leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi the end of a "harsh and oppressive regime," and pledged to work with the country’s new government.

Gadhafi, 69, was shot by rebels on Thursday (Oct. 20) near his native city of Sirte, and video images of his dead body appeared almost immediately on the Internet.
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Pope appoints new ambassador to U.S.

Oct 19, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca


VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has named Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano as the Vatican's next ambassador to the United States.

The widely expected appointment was announced on Wednesday (Oct. 19).
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Activist U.S. priest arrested at Vatican

Oct 17, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Roman Catholic priest from Georgia who is on the verge of expulsion from his religious order for advocating for women's ordination was arrested outside the Vatican on Monday (Oct. 17) and charged with demonstrating without a permit.
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Exiled Libyan Jews look with hope toward homeland

Oct 06, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
ROME (RNS) The Jews of old wandered the wilderness for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. For the exiled Jews of Libya, it's already been 44.

The struggle to reopen a synagogue in Libya, 44 years after the forced departure of the country's last Jews, is emerging as a high-profile test of the new Libyan government's commitment to freedom in the post-Moammar Gadhafi era.
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Amnesty International slams Irish Catholic Church on abuse

Sep 26, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A new report by the Irish branch of Amnesty International says the sexual abuse of children by Ireland's Roman Catholic priests "included acts that amounted to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment."
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Vatican gives conservative group an ultimatum

Sep 14, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Reconciliation between the pope and a schismatic group is impossible unless the group accepts the last half-century of modernizing reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Wednesday (Sept. 14).

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Victims say criminal charges against pope are not a stunt

Sep 13, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A campaign to hold the pope responsible for "crimes against humanity" is not a publicity stunt, sex abuse victims say, even as experts doubt it will have much success at the International Criminal Court.

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9/11 marked crucial turn in Vatican-Muslim relations

Aug 23, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Pope John Paul II invited Muslim leaders to an interfaith prayer summit in Assisi, Italy, the site of a dramatic interfaith peace gathering he had hosted 15 years earlier.

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Priests in Madrid allowed to lift excommunication for abortion

Aug 17, 2011 by Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Catholic priests at this week's World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Madrid will be specially empowered to lift the excommunication of anyone who seeks forgiveness for having undergone or assisted in an abortion.