Catholic Fire

Pope Francis met Filipino political leaders at the Presidential Palace in Manila. In his speech, he stressed he wants to give his support to the victims of typhoon Haiyan, adding that he admires them for their "heroic strength” during and after the natural disaster. The Pope also highlighted that democracies should always back the family, protecting the "inalienable right to life” of the elderly, sick and unborn. READ THE POPE'S FULL SPEECH: Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you, Mr President, for your kind welcome and for your words of greeting in the name of the authorities and people of the Philippines, and the distinguished members of the Diplomatic Corps. I am most grateful for your invitation to visit the Philippines. My visit is above all pastoral. It comes as the Church in this country is preparing to celebrate the fifth centenary of the first proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on these shores. The Christian message has had an immense influence on...

On September 14th, Pope Francis will marry 20 couples from the diocese of Rome. It is a rare occasion at the Vatican. The last time that a wedding ceremony like this was celebrated was with John Paul II. The future newlyweds will respond to several questions that will be asked during the rite. Shortly after, each couple will be married one by one by the Pope, who has had no shortage of advice for newly married couples. POPE FRANCIS October 4, 2013 "I always give this advice to newlyweds: argue about anything you want, if the plates fly, they fly. But never let the day end without making peace. Never!” He also never forgets to give advice to newlyweds during his Wednesday General Audiences. "Communication is the most important thing." "Always forgive each other, trust, have patience." "What touched me the most about the audience was that the Pope said that we all sin and that we should also forgive." The family is one of the central...

November 5, 2013 (Romereports.com) At the request of Pope Francis, the Vatican is getting ready for an extraordinary synod of bishops, where the challenges faced by the family will be discussed.     ARCH. LORENZO BALDISSERI General Secretary of the Synod “The last document we cited on the family is the 'Familiaris Consortio' from 1981 so it's something from 32 years ago.”  The purpose is to evaluate the pastoral approach of the Church on topics like sexuality, marriage and the family . To prepare for this meeting, the Vatican released a preparatory document for the Synod of Bishops. It includes a questionnaire with 38 questions on modern day issues like, divorced and civilly remarried couples, same sex couples, co-habitation before marriage and couple's openness to life and children. Based on the questionnaire, the Vatican is expecting a detailed summary from bishops, religious orders and Catholic groups by the end of January. In fact the Bishops Conference ...