Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated a special Mass Sunday morning upon conclusion of the Schuelerkreis, a yearly gathering of theologian Joseph Ratzinger’s former students. The liturgy was held in the church of the Campo Santo Teutonico, or German cemetery within Vatican City.

Theologian Karl-Heinze Menke, Dogmatic Professor at the University of Bonn, was the primary relator at the liturgy. 

The Schuelerkreis sessions from 21-24 August at the Mariapoli Center in Castelgandolfo outside Rome explored the theme of the Theology of the Cross…

• The Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin has sent a message of condolence on behalf of Pope Francis for the family of the U.S. journalist James Foley, brutally executed by Islamic State militants.  The message was read out Sunday at a memorial mass for Foley at the family’s Catholic parish, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Rochester, New Hampshire.  The letter, addressed to the Bishop of Rockeville Centre, William Francis Murphy, reads:

“The Holy Father, deeply saddened by the death of James Wright Foley, asks you kindly to convey his personal condolences and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to James’ loved ones.  He commends James to the loving mercy of God our Father, and joins all who mourn him in praying for an end to senseless violence and the dawn of reconciliation and peace among all the members of the human family.  Upon the Foley family, and upon his friends and colleagues, he invokes the consolation and strength borne of our hope in Christ’s Resurrection.”

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr…

Pope Francis based his weekly Angelus address on Sunday’s Gospel account of St Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Our Lord responds to this confession by re-naming Simon “Peter,” a name meaning “rock.” But, the Pope said, Jesus gives Simon this name “not for his own personal qualities or his human merits, but on account of his genuine and firm faith, which comes from on high.”

Simon’s faith is a gift from God the Father, a dependable, trustworthy faith upon which our Lord can build His Church – His community, the Pope said, that is, all of us…

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has announced the theme selected by Pope Francis for the upcoming World Day of Peace.  The theme, “Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters” will be the title of the Message for the 48th World Day of Peace, celebrated on 1 January 2015.  It will mark the second time Pope Francis celebrates the Day of Peace since he has risen to the papacy…

Memory, hope, witness: these are the three key terms in which Pope Francis placed his recent visit to Korea, when he reflected on the trip with pilgrims and tourists gathered in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Wednesday for the weekly General Audience. After renewing his sentiments of gratitude and esteem for the bishops of Korea and for the civil authorities who hosted him, the Holy Father began to focus on the Church he discovered during his voyage…

Pope Francis has learnt of the tragic death of three of his relatives in a traffic accident in Argentina and is “profoundly saddened.”  The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope had received news of the tragic accident and asks that “all those who share in his grief join with him in prayer.”  The victims were  the wife of the Pope’s nephew and her two young children aged 2 years and eight months.  His nephew, Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, was seriously injured in the accident…

From the possibility of the unification of the Koreas to the idea of “just war”, from the situation of persecuted minorities in Iraq to the Pope’s upcoming journey to Albania: on the flight back from Korea to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions put to him by journalists travelling with him aboard the papal plane.

In what has become a traditional impromptu press conference aboard the papal plane, journalists spent more than an hour questioning the Pope about his recent visit to Korea for the 6th Asian Youth Day, about issues raised during the journey, his take on the ongoing violence against Christians and other minorities in Iraq, and about plans for future foreign trips…