Tag: Pope Francis
17 Results
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Islam does not condone terrorism: Al-Azhar chief
The Muslim faith is not a terrorist religion, Ahmad al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque – the highest seat of Sunni learning – said on Friday. "Islam is not a terrorist religion, just as Christianity and Judaism are not," Tayyeb told an international peace conference in Cairo on Friday attended by Pope...
April 28, 2017 -
Pope Francis heads for Egypt as ‘pilgrim of peace’
Pope Francis flies to Egypt on Friday for a visit aimed at fostering reconciliation with the Muslim world against the backdrop of recent jihadist attacks on the Middle East's biggest Christian community. The 80-year-old pontiff is due in Cairo around 14.00 local time (1200 GMT) and his 27 hours on Egyptian soil will include a...
April 28, 2017 -
Welcome placards for Pope Francis up in Cairo ahead of visit
Huge placards welcoming Pope Francis in English and Arabic have been erected along Cairo's main streets ahead of his landmark visit here on Friday and Saturday. The placards show Francis dressed in white waving with his right hand against a backdrop of the Pyramids at Giza with a dove, an Islamic crescent and a Christian...
April 27, 2017 -
I am the son of ‘discarded’ migrants, says Pope
Pope Francis said on Wednesday he has always identified with migrants as he is the son and grandson of impoverished Italians who went to Argentina with nothing. "I, myself, was born in a family of migrants," 80-year-old Francis said in a video address to the 'The Future You' conference taking place in Vancouver, Canada. "My...
April 26, 2017 -
Pope Francis blasts migrant suffering in Easter prayer
Pope Francis deplored the suffering of migrants, victims of racism and persecuted Christians as some 20,000 worshippers gathered at Rome's Colosseum to hear his Good Friday prayer. “Christ, our only saviour, we turn towards you this year with eyes lowered in shame,” the pope on Friday told the crowds outside the former gladiators' battleground, their...
April 15, 2017 -
Rome on Easter security lockdown
Italian authorities have tightened security in the capital for Easter and have deployed bomb squads, sniffer dogs and surveillance cameras at the Colosseum, Vatican and other sites after recent terrorist attacks in Britain, Sweden and Germany. The Colosseum closed to visitors at 1 p.m. ahead of the Good Friday Stations of the Cross torchlight ceremony...
April 14, 2017 -
World must stop lethal ‘lords of war’, says Pope Francis
Pope Francis on Thursday urged the world to "stop the lords of war" who sinfully stoke deadly conflicts for their own financial gain — at "immense" human cost. "The world must stop the lords of war, because those who suffer most are the last and the helpless," Francis told Italian daily La Repubblica in an...
April 14, 2017 -
Keep your sermons brief, Pope tells priests
Catholic priests should not drone on in their sermons but should try and keep them short, Pope Francis said on Thursday. "Give short sermons if possible," Francis told priests during a homily as he celebrated Chrism mass in St Peter's Basilica. The mass traditionally begins Holy Week leading up to Easter.
April 13, 2017 -
Mafia members ‘have no hope’, says Pope
Members of Italy's organised crime syndicates "have no hope", Pope Francis said on Wednesday, urging Catholics to shun score-settling and "do good" even towards those who wish them ill. "Members of the mafia think that they can combat evil with evil and so they wage vendettas and do the evil things we know they do,"...
April 5, 2017 -
Pope Francis to visit Cairo
Pope Francis will pay an official visit to Egypt this month, as he will take part in an international conference on peace in Cairo, the Vatican's press office announced on Monday. The pontiff will be in Cairo from April 28 to 29, where he will also meet with the head of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox...
April 3, 2017 -
Anniversary blues
It was a rather strained effort in Rome last Saturday to project the European Union as “our common future”. So perhaps it is for the greater glory of the Continent, and a pious signal of intent on the EU’s 60th anniversary was only to be expected. However, behind the facade of the Rome Declaration, so-called,...
March 29, 2017 -
Pope Francis urges safeguarding of Iraqi civilians
Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed for a concerted effort to protect civilians Iraq caught in the ongoing bloody war in their nation and offered special prayers for those trapped in the embattled city of Mosul. Voicing deep pain for the victims of the deadly conflict in Iraq, Francis appealed to all sides to make every...
March 29, 2017 -
Cities should welcome the needy: Pope Francis
Pope Francis on Thursday called for cities to open their arms to the needy in society – the poor, the marginalised and refugees. "We live in cities that throw up skyscrapers and shopping centres and strike big real estate deals," Francis wrote in his prayer intentions for February. But the same cities that boast these...
February 2, 2017 -
Pope: I’ll judge Trump after we see what he does
Pope Francis has told an interviewer that he'll wait to see what US President Donald Trump does before forming his opinion. In an interview published yesterday evening by Spanish newspaper El Pais, Francis says he doesn't like "judging people early. We'll see what Trump does." Asked about populist-style political leaders emerging in the United States...
January 22, 2017 -
Pope urges religious leaders to reject killing in god’s name
In a speech that urged the pursuit of peace in the New Year, Pope Francis on Monday called upon religious leaders around the world to reject killing in the name of god. The pontiff made the declarations in his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See — ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the...
January 9, 2017 -
Pope urges religious leaders to reject killing in god’s name
In a speech that urged the pursuit of peace in the New Year, Pope Francis on Monday called upon religious leaders around the world to reject killing in the name of god. The pontiff made the declarations in his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See — ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the...
January 9, 2017 -
Pope urges religious leaders to reject killing in god’s name
In a speech that urged the pursuit of peace in the New Year, Pope Francis on Monday called upon religious leaders around the world to reject killing in the name of god. The pontiff made the declarations in his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See — ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the...
January 9, 2017