Pope Francis - The African Mirror

Pope skips Palm Sunday homily, an unusual decision for a major event

POPE Francis at the last minute skipped reading his homily during a Palm Sunday Mass for tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square but continued presiding at the service, read his noon prayer and was driven around the crowd in a popemobile. In recent weeks the 87-year-old pope has been suffering on and off from bronchitis and influenza and has delegated an aide to read his addresses for him, but on Sunday his prepared text was not read at all. It is very unusual for a pope to totally skip a homily at a major event such as Palm Sunday,…

Mar

2024

Pope Francis reflects on his life and mortality in memoir

POPE Francis, at 87 increasingly weak and wobbly, takes a trip down memory lane and speaks of his hopes for the Roman Catholic Church's future in a new book reflecting on his life and its intersection with major world events. "Life - My Story Through History," a memoir written with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona and published by HarperCollins, goes on sale on March 19, the 11th anniversary of Francis' installation as the first Latin American pope. While offering little that is new, the 230-page book is a breezy, conversational-style read starting with his childhood in Buenos Aires to today. It is…

Mar

2024

Ukraine rebuffs Pope Francis calling for talks with Russia

UKRAINE rebuffed Pope Francis's call to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the pontiff was engaging in "virtual mediation" and his foreign minister saying Kyiv would never capitulate. Francis said that when things were going badly for a party to a conflict one had to show the "courage of the white flag" and negotiate. The pope's interview was believed to be the first time Francis has used terms like "white flag" or "defeated" in discussing the Ukraine war, though he has referred in the past to the need for talks. Zelenskiy made no direct reference to…

Mar

2024

Pope says Ukraine should have ‘courage of the white flag’ of negotiations

POPE Francis has said in an interview that Ukraine should have what he called the courage of the "white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion two years ago and that has killed tens of thousands. Francis made his comments in an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI, well before Friday's latest offer by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to host a summit between Ukraine and Russia to end the war. Erdogan made the fresh offer after a meeting in Istanbul with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy has said while he wants peace he…

Mar

2024

Pope Francis asks aide to read ceremonial speech due to bronchitis

POPE Francis, who has been suffering from influenza, said he delegated the reading of a speech at a ceremony to an aide because he was unable to read it due to bronchitis. "I have prepared a speech but as you can see I am unable to read it because of bronchitis. I have asked Monsignor (Filippo) Ciampanelli to read it for me," a hoarse-sounding pope said. The speech was for the opening ceremony of the judicial year of the Vatican tribunal. Afterwards, the pope was able to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during an audience at the Vatican. Francis, who…

Feb

2024

Pope Francis urges diplomatic solution to Ukraine war on anniversary of invasion

POPE Francis called for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine that would lead to a just and lasting peace, as the second anniversary of Russia's invasion was marked a day earlier. "So many victims, wounded, destruction, anguish, and tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and whose end is not in sight. It is a war that not only devastates that region but also unleashes global waves of hate and fear", Pope Francis said during his weekly Angelus message. "I plead for that little bit of humanity to be found to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution…

Feb

2024

Pope Francis appeals for an end to Sudan’s civil war

NEWS

POPE Francis appealed to Sudan's warring factions to put an end to a 10-month conflict that has seen millions displaced and prompted warnings of famine. "I ask again the warring parties to stop this war, which causes so much damage to the people and the future of the country", Francis said during his Angelus message. "Let's pray so that avenues of peace will soon be found for the future of beloved Sudan", he added. Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the civil war in Sudan that pits the country's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In his…

Jan

2024

Pope says Africans are ‘special case’ when it comes to LGBT blessings

NEWS

POPE Francis said in an interview published that Africans were a "special case" in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it. Blessings were allowed last month in a document called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), which has caused widespread debate in the Catholic Church, with particularly strong resistance coming from African bishops. "Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups," Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa. "A special case is Africans: for…

Jan

2024

Pope defends same-sex blessings declaration, says it is misunderstood