“His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life in the explosion at the Al-Wuhailat market in Baghdad”.

This was how the telegram sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Francis to the Apostolic Nuncio in Iraq, Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, began.

The telegram continued: “He sends condolences to the families and friends of those who have died, entrusting their souls to the mercy of Almighty God”… Read more »

An estimated 23 million children missed out on basic vaccines through routine immunization services last year, a figure representing 3.7 million more than in 2019, say the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization.

Many of these children – up to 17 million – likely did not receive any vaccine throughout the year, resulting in the exacerbation of already present inequalities in access to vaccines… Read more »

After consulting the bishops throughout the world, Pope Francis has decided to modify the norms regulating the use of the 1962 missal granted 14 years ago by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, as the “extraordinary form of the Roman Rite”. The Pope has published the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes, dated 16 July 2021, regarding the use of the Roman liturgy prior to 1970… Read more »

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, has confirmed that the Holy Father was discharged from Agostino Gemelli Hospital shortly after 10.30 this morning. 

In responding to questions from journalists, he noted that “Before returning to the Vatican, the Pope went to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major where, before the icon of the Virgin Mary Salus Populi Romani, he expressed his gratitude for the success of his surgery and offered a prayer for all the sick, especially those he had met during his stay in hospital… Read more »

The Holy See Press Office noted that on Tuesday afternoon Pope Francis visited with young patients at the pediatric oncology ward of the hospital. The department is located on the same floor where the Pope is recovering from his surgery just over a week ago.  Read more »

…

Pope Francis “spent a quiet day”, Thursday, with “normal clinical progress”. “He continued to eat regularly and continued his scheduled treatment,” Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said in a brief statement on Friday. 

The Holy Father is recovering normally after a scheduled surgery for “diverticular stenosis of the colon” on Sunday at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. 

In his update on the Pope’s convalescence, Bruni said he “walked in the corridor and resumed his work, alternating it with moments of reading texts”.  Thursday afternoon, “he celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of his private apartment” in the hospital, “attended by all those assisting him during his hospitalization”… Read more »