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VATICAN
Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published on Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties. Speaking to the Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis said he gave the note to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who then was the Vatican secretary of state. The pontiff added that he presumes that the prelate currently in that Vatican No. 2 role, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, now has the written instruction. Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, had surgery in 2021 to repair a bowel narrowing and has been hobbled by knee pain that for months saw him use a wheelchair. Lately, he has increasingly used a cane instead of the wheelchair to get around in public. Asked what happens if health issues or an accident suddenly leaves a pope unable to do his job, and whether there should be a rule for such instances, Francis replied, In practice there is already a rule. I have already signed my renunciation," .
Pope Francis on Monday met at the Vatican with French President Emmanuel Macron, with the war in Ukraine looming large in both leaders' concerns. The nearly hour-long private audience was Francis' third with Macron since becoming pontiff. Neither side immediately released details of their talks. On the eve of their meeting, Macron spoke at a conference in Rome about the need for Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia, which invaded its neighbour eight months ago. Francis will go to the Colosseum on Tuesday to deliver a speech to the same forum, a conference centered on the need for peace and organised by a Catholic charity close to the Vatican. Accompanying Macron to the Vatican was his wife, Brigitte.
Russia's war in Ukraine and the Holy See's strained relations with China are the backdrop to Pope Francis' visit this week to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, where he is ministering to a tiny Catholic community and participating in an interfaith conference aimed at promoting peace and dialogue. Francis was flying Tuesday to the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan to meet with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the state visit portion of the three-day trip. On Wednesday and Thursday, he participates in an interfaith meeting with more than 100 delegations of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto and other faith groups from 50 countries. The most noteworthy aspects of Francis' visit might be missed opportunities: Francis was supposed to have met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on the sidelines of the conference. But Patriarch Kirill, who has justified the war in Ukraine, cancelled his trip last month. Francis is also going to be in the Kazakh capital at the
The Vatican's Russia-Ukraine diplomacy suffered two setbacks Thursday when the head of the Russian Orthodox Church cancelled a planned meeting with Pope Francis and Ukraine summoned the papal ambassador to complain about Francis' latest comments about the war. "The Ukrainian heart is torn apart by the pope's words," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Kyiv after the Vatican nuncio was summoned. "It was unfair." He was responding to Francis' comments about the weekend car bomb slaying in Moscow of Darya Dugina, a nationalist Russian TV commentator and daughter of the right-wing Russian political theorist, Alexander Dugin, who ardently supports the war. Francis listed the "poor girl" killed by a car bomb in Moscow, as well as orphans in Ukraine and Russia, among the "innocents" who have been victimized by the "insanity of war." Russia has accused Ukrainian intelligence in the bombing, which Ukraine denies. Francis has denounced the war in Ukraine but has tried
Pope Francis challenged the Vatican's in-house journalists Monday to essentially justify their continued work, asking them how many people actually consume their news in a critique of the office that costs the Holy See more than all its embassies around the world combined. Francis visited the Dicastry of Communications, Vatican Radio and the headquarters of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, which is marking its 160th anniversary. He appeared to use the occasion to lay down the gauntlet at a fraught financial time for the Holy See. Facing a major pension funding shortage and a projected 50 million euro (USD 61 million) deficit this year, Francis has ordered salary cuts from 3 per cent to 10 per cent for Vatican employees, both lay and religious, and paused seniority bonuses for two years. Francis has vowed not to fire anyone to offset the economic crisis created by COVID-19 and the pandemic-related shuttering of one of the Holy See's main sources of revenue, ticket sales