An Ethnic Uighur demonstrator wearing a protective face mask takes part in a protest against China, in Istanbul, Turkey October 1, 2020. REUTERS/Murad SezerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comROME, April 20 (Reuters) - Violations of religious freedom are increasing and persecution takes place in more than 25 countries, with China and Myanmar among those that have the worst records, according to a report by a Vatican-backed charity.The Religious Freedom in the World Report, covering 2019-2020 and issued on Tuesday, said that in some countries, such as Niger, Turkey and...…An Ethnic Uighur demonstrator wearing a protective face mask takes part in a protest against China, in Istanbul, Turkey October 1, 2020. REUTERS/Murad SezerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comROME, April 20 (Reuters) - Violations of religious freedom are increasing and persecution takes place in more than 25 countries, with China and Myanmar among those that have the worst records, according to a report by a Vatican-backed charity.The Religious Freedom in the World Report, covering 2019-2020 and issued on Tuesday, said that in some countries, such as Niger, Turkey and...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis led Palm Sunday services in an almost empty St. Peter’s Basilica because of coronavirus restrictions for the second consecutive year and said the devil is taking advantage of the pandemic.In pre-coronavirus times, Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week and leads to Easter, tens of thousands of people would pack St. Peter’s Square holding olive branches and intricately woven palm fronds in an outdoor ceremony.Instead, only about 120 members of the faithful participated in Sunday’s Mass, joining the pope and about 30 cardinals in a secondary...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis led Palm Sunday services in an almost empty St. Peter’s Basilica because of coronavirus restrictions for the second consecutive year and said the devil is taking advantage of the pandemic.In pre-coronavirus times, Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week and leads to Easter, tens of thousands of people would pack St. Peter’s Square holding olive branches and intricately woven palm fronds in an outdoor ceremony.Instead, only about 120 members of the faithful participated in Sunday’s Mass, joining the pope and about 30 cardinals in a secondary...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10% pay cut and reduced the salaries of most other clerics working in the Vatican in order to save jobs of employees as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the Holy See’s income.The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis issued a decree introducing proportional cuts starting on April 1. A spokesman said most lay employees would not be affected by the cuts.A senior Vatican prelate said it was believed to be the first time in living memory that a pope had taken such action.Francis, 84, and from a working class family, has...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10% pay cut and reduced the salaries of most other clerics working in the Vatican in order to save jobs of employees as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the Holy See’s income.The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis issued a decree introducing proportional cuts starting on April 1. A spokesman said most lay employees would not be affected by the cuts.A senior Vatican prelate said it was believed to be the first time in living memory that a pope had taken such action.Francis, 84, and from a working class family, has...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis appealed on Wednesday for an end to bloodshed in Myanmar, saying: “Even I kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say ‘stop the violence’”.Francis made the appeal, his latest since a Feb. 1 coup, at the end of his weekly general audience, held remotely from the Vatican library because of COVID-19 restrictions.More than 180 protesters have been killed as security forces try to crush a wave of demonstrations.“One more time and with much sadness I feel the urgency to talk about the dramatic situation in Myanmar, where many people, most of them young, are...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis appealed on Wednesday for an end to bloodshed in Myanmar, saying: “Even I kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say ‘stop the violence’”.Francis made the appeal, his latest since a Feb. 1 coup, at the end of his weekly general audience, held remotely from the Vatican library because of COVID-19 restrictions.More than 180 protesters have been killed as security forces try to crush a wave of demonstrations.“One more time and with much sadness I feel the urgency to talk about the dramatic situation in Myanmar, where many people, most of them young, are...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Monday that priests cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not valid, in a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics who had hoped their Church was becoming more welcoming under Pope Francis.In some countries, such as the United States and Germany, parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and there have been calls for bishops to de facto institutionalise these.But conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church have expressed alarm over these practices, particularly those in Germany...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Monday that priests cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not valid, in a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics who had hoped their Church was becoming more welcoming under Pope Francis.In some countries, such as the United States and Germany, parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and there have been calls for bishops to de facto institutionalise these.But conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church have expressed alarm over these practices, particularly those in Germany...WW…

By , BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Pope Francis began his most risky foreign trip on Friday, flying into Iraq amid the tightest security ever seen for a papal visit to appeal to the country’s leaders and people to end militant violence and religious strife.The country has deployed thousands of security personnel to protect him during the visit, which comes after a spate of rocket and suicide bomb attacks and a spike in COVID-19 cases.Even before he landed, Francis told reporters on his plane that he felt duty-bound to make what he called an “emblematic” trip despite the difficulties because the...…By , BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Pope Francis began his most risky foreign trip on Friday, flying into Iraq amid the tightest security ever seen for a papal visit to appeal to the country’s leaders and people to end militant violence and religious strife.The country has deployed thousands of security personnel to protect him during the visit, which comes after a spate of rocket and suicide bomb attacks and a spike in COVID-19 cases.Even before he landed, Francis told reporters on his plane that he felt duty-bound to make what he called an “emblematic” trip despite the difficulties because the...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday he is going to Iraq, where his predecessor John Paul was not allowed to go in 2000, because “the people cannot be let down for a second time.”Slideshow Speaking at the end of his general audience, Francis, who is due to start the risky trip in Baghdad on Friday, asked for prayers so that the visit “can take place in the best possible way and bring about the desired fruits”.He made no mention of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, where earlier on Wednesday at least 10 rockets landed on an air base that hosts United States,...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday he is going to Iraq, where his predecessor John Paul was not allowed to go in 2000, because “the people cannot be let down for a second time.”Slideshow Speaking at the end of his general audience, Francis, who is due to start the risky trip in Baghdad on Friday, asked for prayers so that the visit “can take place in the best possible way and bring about the desired fruits”.He made no mention of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, where earlier on Wednesday at least 10 rockets landed on an air base that hosts United States,...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comVATICAN CITY, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Vatican has told employees that they may risk losing their jobs if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination without legitimate health reasons. A decree by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, effectively the governor of Vatican City, said getting a vaccine was "the responsible choice" because of the risk of harming other people.Vatican City, at 108 acres the world's smallest state, has several thousand employees, most of whom live in Italy. Its vaccination programme began last month and Pope Francis, 84, was...…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comVATICAN CITY, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Vatican has told employees that they may risk losing their jobs if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination without legitimate health reasons. A decree by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, effectively the governor of Vatican City, said getting a vaccine was "the responsible choice" because of the risk of harming other people.Vatican City, at 108 acres the world's smallest state, has several thousand employees, most of whom live in Italy. Its vaccination programme began last month and Pope Francis, 84, was...WW…

By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See.He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, on Saturday as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic.The previous day, Francis named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals.Becquart’s position,...…By VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See.He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, on Saturday as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic.The previous day, Francis named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals.Becquart’s position,...WW…

By UR, Iraq (Reuters) - Pope Francis walked down a narrow alleyway in the holy city of Najav to hold a historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric and visited the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham on Saturday to condemn violence in the name of God as “the greatest blasphemy”.The inter-religious events, one in a dusty, built-up city and the other on a desert plain 200 km (125 miles) away, reinforced the main theme of the pope’s risky trip to Iraq - that the country has suffered far too much, and the killing has often been sectarian.“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of...…By UR, Iraq (Reuters) - Pope Francis walked down a narrow alleyway in the holy city of Najav to hold a historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric and visited the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham on Saturday to condemn violence in the name of God as “the greatest blasphemy”.The inter-religious events, one in a dusty, built-up city and the other on a desert plain 200 km (125 miles) away, reinforced the main theme of the pope’s risky trip to Iraq - that the country has suffered far too much, and the killing has often been sectarian.“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of...WW…