This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe latest figures from China suggest that the novel coronavirus outbreak remains worst in locked-down Hubei province, where 398 new cases and 149 more deaths were reported early Monday.Outside China, the outbreak continued to spread. South Korea said Sunday that it was raising its national threat level to “red alert,” the highest, as 169 new cases were confirmed Sunday and an additional 161 on Monday — making the country the most infected entity outside mainland China. In Italy, the number of cases spiked to 152, the...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe latest figures from China suggest that the novel coronavirus outbreak remains worst in locked-down Hubei province, where 398 new cases and 149 more deaths were reported early Monday.Outside China, the outbreak continued to spread. South Korea said Sunday that it was raising its national threat level to “red alert,” the highest, as 169 new cases were confirmed Sunday and an additional 161 on Monday — making the country the most infected entity outside mainland China. In Italy, the number of cases spiked to 152, the...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Pope Francis indeed has a mask. It's unadorned and white, just a shade paler than his papal cassock.But he almost never wears it.He goes maskless in public appearances. He goes maskless when hosting visitors. His aversion is deep enough that even guests seem to take the cue: Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived at the Vatican wearing a mask. But he and his entourage were unmasked when in the apostolic library.Francis is far from the only world figure to buck the safety protocols of the pandemic...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Pope Francis indeed has a mask. It's unadorned and white, just a shade paler than his papal cassock.But he almost never wears it.He goes maskless in public appearances. He goes maskless when hosting visitors. His aversion is deep enough that even guests seem to take the cue: Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived at the Vatican wearing a mask. But he and his entourage were unmasked when in the apostolic library.Francis is far from the only world figure to buck the safety protocols of the pandemic...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Pope Francis has called in a new documentary for the creation of civil union laws, giving his clearest support to date for the rights of same-sex couples while breaking from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.“What we have to create is a civil union law,” the pope says in the film, released in Rome on Wednesday. “That way they are legally covered.”Francis’s comment does nothing to alter Catholic doctrine, but it nonetheless represents a remarkable shift for a church that has fought against LGBT...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Pope Francis has called in a new documentary for the creation of civil union laws, giving his clearest support to date for the rights of same-sex couples while breaking from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.“What we have to create is a civil union law,” the pope says in the film, released in Rome on Wednesday. “That way they are legally covered.”Francis’s comment does nothing to alter Catholic doctrine, but it nonetheless represents a remarkable shift for a church that has fought against LGBT...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBAGHDAD — With cheering, partially masked crowds and armed security lining the roads, Pope Francis began the first-ever papal trip to Iraq on Friday, seeking reconciliation in a country with an extraordinary biblical history, a surging coronavirus outbreak and ongoing political turmoil.He called for cooperation among ethnic groups in the palace once used by autocrat Saddam Hussein. He called for an end to religious violence in a church where, 10 years earlier, gunmen had killed 58 people, leaving flesh on the pews."I come...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBAGHDAD — With cheering, partially masked crowds and armed security lining the roads, Pope Francis began the first-ever papal trip to Iraq on Friday, seeking reconciliation in a country with an extraordinary biblical history, a surging coronavirus outbreak and ongoing political turmoil.He called for cooperation among ethnic groups in the palace once used by autocrat Saddam Hussein. He called for an end to religious violence in a church where, 10 years earlier, gunmen had killed 58 people, leaving flesh on the pews."I come...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, became the first Black American to earn the rank of cardinal Saturday in a pandemic-altered Vatican ceremony that was strange and historic like none before it.Because of coronavirus travel concerns, two of the 13 new cardinals did not come to Rome. The others wore masks and sat in socially distanced rows inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Gregory, like some other new cardinals, had quarantined for 10 days before the ceremony at a Vatican resident building, with meals and...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareROME — Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, became the first Black American to earn the rank of cardinal Saturday in a pandemic-altered Vatican ceremony that was strange and historic like none before it.Because of coronavirus travel concerns, two of the 13 new cardinals did not come to Rome. The others wore masks and sat in socially distanced rows inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Gregory, like some other new cardinals, had quarantined for 10 days before the ceremony at a Vatican resident building, with meals and...WW…