Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Instituto Acton in Rome, Italy, joined France 24 News today to discuss the pontificate of Pope Francis I as he assumes his new office of leadership.
Read more on Video: Kishore Jayabalan discusses Pope Francis on France 24…
KNOP-TV featured a report earlier this week in which it interviewed Acton president and co-founder, Rev. Robert Sirico describing the tough decision the Cardinals faced when choosing a new pope.
Yesterday, Cardinals choose Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina to be the new pope. A The Detroit News editorial points out that “[t]hirty-nine percent of the world’s Catholics live in Latin America, making this pope a fitting choice for many Catholics.”
Read more on Pope Francis ‘provides Catholics with fresh guidance’…
New Delhi TV recently published a Agence Franch-Presse report describing the former pope’s “invisible presence at conclave:”
Retired pope Benedict XVI is gone but far from forgotten as cardinals begin voting for candidates to replace him, with his personal secretary Georg Gaenswein one of the last to leave the Sistine Chapel before the start of the conclave.
Rev. Robert Sirico addresses Benedict’s influence on the conclave:
Read more on Rev. Sirico: Don’t Underestimate Benedict’s Silent Influence…
The conclave to elect a new pope began today in Rome. Guy Dinmore and Giulia Segreti from the Financial Times describe the first day:
Cardinals sequestered in the Sistine chapel held their first vote to choose the 266th pope to lead the Roman Catholic church but black smoke emerging from their burnt ballot papers on Tuesday night signalled no one had secured the two-thirds majority needed for election.
Read more on Rev. Sirico on the First Day of Papal Conclave…
When most folks (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) hear “papal infallibility”, they often think “Catholics have to believe everything the pope says. They have to believe he’s never wrong.” Except that sometimes he is wrong, and that idea is too. In light of all the commentary we are going to hear in the coming weeks as the Church prepares to elect a new pope, it’s a good time to take a look at this particular Church teaching.
First, Catholics believe that Christ himself established the papacy by declaring Peter “rock” (Mt. 16:18) Thus, the “Chair of Peter” is the one the pope occupies as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Church. All popes are heir to the legacy of Peter. As John Zmirak explains, “What the bishop is for his diocese, the pope is for the whole church.” Read more on Papal Infallibility: It’s probably not what you think…
