Rome calling

Pope Francis tempered his Easter Sunday message of Christian hope with a denunciation of “blind” terrorism, recalling victims of attacks in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, as well as expressing dismay that people fleeing war or poverty are being denied a welcome, as European countries squabble over the refugee crisis.

Pope Francis, galvanised by a scandal over Vatican finances, has ordered the most powerful bodies in the city-state to launch an unprecedented audit of its wealth and crackdown on runaway spending.

With France still reeling from the attacks that killed 129 and wounded hundreds, France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has voted to extend a state of emergency for three months. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved.

Pope Francis has reaffirmed Catholic opposition to gay marriage as he opened a three-week gathering of bishops from around the world but said the Church had to show love and understanding towards all.

Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol has been named as the best rated landmark in Ireland in the Travellers’ Choice TM awards for Landmarks, announced by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site.

Pope Francis yesterday honoured the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by calling it “the first genocide of the 20th century” and urging the international community to recognise it as such, a politically explosive declaration that angered Turkey.

Pope Francis has prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in his Easter Sunday address, commemorating the students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.

Pope Francis presided over the solemn Easter Vigil service amid mounting Vatican concern for modern-day Christian martyrs whose deaths have dominated this Easter season.

Pope Francis, presiding at the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession, condemned the “complicit silence” about the killing of Christians.

Pope Francis urged Roman Catholic leaders yesterday to shun a “closed caste” mentality, saying the Church’s credibility rested on its ability to help the poor and persecuted on the margins of society.

Pope Francis has presided over a solemn prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Eve, using his homily to stress life’s fleetingness.

The man who tried to kill former Pope John Paul II 33 years ago showed up at the Vatican over the weekend to put white roses on his tomb and said he wanted to meet Pope Francis.

The Holy See has released a radical feminist activist who bared her breasts in St Peter’s Square on Christmas Day and snatched the statue of Baby Jesus from the Vatican’s outdoor Nativity scene.

Pope Francis is focusing his attention on all those weeping in the world this Christmas, singling out the refugees, hostages and all those suffering in conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and Ukraine.

Pope Francis has beatified Pope Paul VI and declared that God is not afraid of new things as he concluded a remarkable meeting of bishops on family issues.

Pope Francis has beatified Pope Paul VI and declared that God is not afraid of new things as he concluded a remarkable meeting of bishops debating family issues.

Liz O’ Brien ticked off her continental bucket list with a Contiki ‘European Highlights’ tour in London, Paris, Nice, Monaco, the French Riviera, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Rhine Valley, St Goar, Munich, Edam and Amsterdam    

Pope Francis has ordered a review designed to simplify the Church’s procedures for annulments, the Vatican said, a move that could make it easier for Catholics to end marriages.

Pope Francis has married 20 couples in St Peter’s Basilica – with one bride already a mother.

Looking tired but relaxed, Pope Francis has led his first major public ceremony since health problems forced a spate of cancelled appointments.

Over 50 years ago, a cardinal asked the Vatican Council: ‘Where’s the other half of humanity?’ In her own inimitable way, Mary McAleese last week posed the same question, writes TP O’ Mahony.

Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and Syria and for an end to the terrorist attacks in Nigeria as he celebrated Easter Sunday in Rome.

Pope Francis, starting four packed days of events culminating in Easter, said the Church must always be a refuge for the poor, the homeless, and the sick.

LIMERICK City Gallery of Art is hosting two exhibitions: ‘Those who go/Those who stay’ features new sculptural work by Michael Warren, while ‘Timber Boats at Limerick Docks’ is his selection of work from the gallery’s collection.

Pope Francis yesterday urged people to accept each other’s differences and for enemies to recognise that they are brothers — a New Year’s Day service dedicated to world peace.

Pope Francis has urged people to accept each other’s differences and for enemies to recognise that they are brothers in a New Year’s Day service dedicated to world peace.

Pope Francis has said in his Christmas Day speech that hopes for a better world, including successful Middle East negotiations in the land of Jesus’s birth, peace for Syria and several war-torn African countries, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict.

The Vatican publicly unveiled a handful of bone fragments purportedly belonging to St Peter, reviving the scientific debate and tantalising mystery over whether the relics found in a shoe box truly belong to the first pope.

An Irish choir is preparing to perform at celebrations in Rome this weekend marking the 500th anniversary of the choir of St Peter’s Basilica.

Benedict XVI has moved back to the Vatican, opening an uncertain era in Catholic Church history where an “emeritus pope” and a ruling pontiff will live as neighbours for the first time.

Pope Francis made an Easter Sunday peace plea, saying conflicts have lasted too long in Syria, and between Israelis and Palestinians.

Pope Francis is celebrating his first Easter Sunday Mass as pontiff in St Peter’s Square, which is packed by joyous pilgrims, tourists and citizens of Rome.

Pope Francis celebrated a trimmed-back Easter Vigil service after having reached out to Muslims and women during a Holy Week in which he began to put his mark on the Catholic Church.

EVER wonder what showtime must have been like at Rome’s Colosseum? Cast your mind back to Ireland and Italy’s recent rugby showdown at the Stadio Olimpico. The Six Nations is as close as rugby gets to all-out gladiatorial combat: by the time the Irish and Italian teams were done tearing chunks out of each other, bruised and battered bodies were legion.

Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young offenders including a Muslim girl at a Rome jail in an unusual take on a traditional Easter ritual by Latin America’s first pontiff.

Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square, encouraging people to be humble and young at heart as he promised to go to a youth jamboree Brazil this summer, while the faithful enthusiastically waved olive branches and braided palm fronds.

Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square, encouraging people to be humble and young at heart as he promised to go to a youth jamboree Brazil this summer, while the faithful enthusiastically waved olive branches and braided palm fronds.

Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square today, encouraging people to be humble and young at heart, as tens of thousands joyfully waved olive branches and palm fronds.

Pope Francis has travelled to Castel Gandolfo to have lunch with his predecessor Benedict XVI in an historic meeting.

Whatever prism you view the Pope’s inauguration through, only the most cynical could fail to be impressed by the spectacle, writes Catherine Shanahan in Rome