Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements (if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies.

Pope Francis orders ex-aide of Pope Benedict to leave Vatican

Pope Francis orders ex-aide of Pope Benedict to leave Vatican

POPE Francis has ordered Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the private secretary and long-time aide of the late Pope Benedict, to return to his native Germany by the end of the month without any new assignment, the Vatican said. A Vatican statement put an end to speculation about what role Gaenswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have in the Church. Former Pope Benedict died on December 31, nearly a decade after he resigned in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years. Gaenswein is…
Read More
Supporters demand sainthood for Benedict as Pope Francis leads funeral

Supporters demand sainthood for Benedict as Pope Francis leads funeral

PHILIP PULLELLA and CRISPIAN BALMER POPE Francis led the funeral of former Pope Benedict, tenderly touching the coffin of his predecessor as he stood supported on a cane before tens of thousands of mourners, with some calling for the late pontiff to be made a saint. Benedict's death on Saturday brought to an end a decade of the former and present pope living side-by-side in the Vatican and it was the first time in more than 200 years that a pontiff had led the service for his predecessor. His death was a loss for conservatives who yearned for a return to a…
Read More
Benedict’s death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future

Benedict’s death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future

PHILIP PULLELLA SIX months ago Pope Francis brushed off speculation he was about to resign due to health problems. Still, even if he had toyed with the idea, he faced one major obstacle: there was already another ex-pope in retirement. The death on Saturday of Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down instead of reigning for life, should make any decision to step down easier on Francis and the Church, which has struggled enough with having "two popes", let alone three - two retired and one reigning. It could also prompt the current pontiff to review…
Read More
Death of former Pope Benedict overshadows New Year at Vatican

Death of former Pope Benedict overshadows New Year at Vatican

PHILIP PULLELLA POPE Francis marked the Roman Catholic Church's traditional World Day of Peace on Sunday but the start of the new year at the Vatican was overshadowed by the death of his predecessor, Benedict. Francis presided at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica as the body of Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, was being prepared for three days of public viewing in the same church starting Monday. On Sunday the Vatican released the first images of the late Benedict, showing him dressed in red and gold liturgical vestments and laying in state in the chapel of…
Read More
Former Pope Benedict’s condition remains grave but stable

Former Pope Benedict’s condition remains grave but stable

FORMER Pope Benedict's condition remains "grave" but stable, the Vatican said, adding in a statement that he had rested well during the night and was lucid and aware. "The Pope Emeritus managed to rest well during the night, he is absolutely lucid and aware, and today, even though his condition remains grave, the situation is at the moment stable," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. "Pope Francis renews his request to pray for him and to accompany him in these difficult hours," Bruni said of the 95-year-old former pontiff. The statement, the second since Francis disclosed on Wednesday that his predecessor was…
Read More