Crux: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Pope Francis and the Catholic Church have a “central role” in promoting religious liberty. Pompeo was speaking to Vatican News—the official news service of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication—ahead of the first Ministerial…

Image: UK in Holy See (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), flickr.com Transcript of this video Source References Top Vatican diplomat calls relationship with US ‘strong and solid’

Crux, by Christopher White: Vatican foreign secretary Archbishop Paul Gallagher hailed the relationship between the United States and the Holy See as “strong and solid” on Wednesday during a visit to the nation’s capital. The second highest-ranking Vatican diplomat’s remarks…

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Irish Central: The Vatican has published a note rejecting potential new legislation that would mandate clergy members to report instances of child abuse heard during the sacrament of confession. The note comes after California passed Senate Bill 360 on May…

Image: Svetoslav Nikolov (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), flickr.com Transcript of this video Source References Rhetoric To Reality: What To Watch After Oil Executives’ Vatican Visit

Church Militant, by Bradley Eli: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s recent testimony that Pope Francis is not acting on his knowledge of the Vatican’s young seminarians being sexually abused is part of a larger pattern of cover-up that has emerged from…

Forbes, by Ben Ratner: Earlier this month, more than 30 oil and gas CEOs and investors captured headlines by meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican on climate change, then releasing a statement supporting carbon pricing. What is clear from…

CNA, by Courtney Grogan: Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Pope Francis at the Vatican July 4 for a 55-minute private discussion. Pope Francis and Putin discussed current affairs in Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela, as well as environmental issues and…

Image: Pixabay.com Transcript of this video Source References Pope Francis Celebrates Mass in Morocco, Marking 1st Papal Mass Since St. John Paul II’s in 1985

Catholic News Agency, by Courtney Grogan: Pope Francis called on nations to work toward a global common good Thursday, particularly in confronting climate change, human trafficking and nuclear threats. “In the current situation of globalization not only of the economy…

AP: by NICOLE WINFIELD: Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in an important new effort to hold…