Universal Church

The Holy See Press Office announced in a statement at midday on Thursday, January 16, the following: "This morning, following a fall at Santa Marta, Pope Francis suffered a contusion to his right forearm, without fracture. The arm was immobilized as a precautionary measure." Despite this incident, the Pope continued his schedule without interruption. He delivered two speeches in the morning to the members of the delegation from Albania led by His Grace Dede Edmond Brahimaj and the community of the Argentine Priestly College in Rome.

ROME, January 7, 2014 (Zenit.org) - No more title of "monsignor" in dioceses for those who do not exercise a pastoral office - bishop or vicar general -: Pope Francis is taking a measure that clarifies and simplifies the use of this honorary title. Nothing has changed, however, for the awards given to lay people.

On Friday, January 10, 2025, the Holy Father granted audiences with three groups of pilgrims and gave three speeches, the summary of which is provided on this page. However, you can read these texts in their entirety on the links below.

In the Hall of Blessings, Pope Francis gave a very important speech on the general situation of humanity while proposing solutions for a better world. This is a summary that TMNews@ presents to you. We leave you the link to discover the depth of the Pope's own words. This happened in front of the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the presentation of New Year's greetings.

In the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis, during the General Audience of this Wednesday, January 8, 2025, addressed the issue of the scourge of child labor. He promised to continue the same theme at the next General Audience.

The first weekend of the year 2025 of Pope Francis was busy on Saturday, January 4, with two meetings linked to Italian associations working in education in the morning and in the evening of the same Saturday, he ordained Bishop Renato Tarantelli Baccari. The Sunday Angelus was not missing from the solemnity of the Epiphany and the opening of the fourth Holy Door.

On the forecourt of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the scene was well set before 12:00 with more than 30,000 faithful for the Pope's Christmas message followed by the Orbi et Urbi blessing. This blessing only occurs twice a year: at Christmas and Easter when the Holy Father blesses the eternal city of Rome and the entire world. After he returned to the central box in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, two national anthems (of Italy and the Vatican) were performed by the Italian army.

In his Bull of Indiction Spes non confundit of May 9, 2024 for the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, after having noted the spiritual and pastoral aspects of Hope, the Pope had announced the opening of the Holy Door for the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025. A special program was established to allow the Catholic faithful of the world to benefit from this jubilee throughout the world. This Bull, while delivering the liturgical, and especially spiritual, activities to be carried out there, entrusted the task to all diocesan bishops to bring this moment of the Jubilee to life 5 days after the Opening of the Holy Door.

Following the tradition of the Church that dates back to 1300 with the pontificate of Boniface VIII, Pope Francis noted in his bull of indiction - "Spes non confundit" - that "The time has come for a new Jubilee in which the Holy Door will once again be thrown wide open to offer the living experience of God's love that awakens in the heart the certain hope of salvation in Christ."

The Holy Father met this weekend with the Members of the Roman Curia, the workers of the Vatican City for the exchange of greetings and their families, the faithful in St. Peter's Square FOR THE Angelus and he celebrated Christmas and his birthday with the children of the Santa Marta dispensary.

Until the end of October 2024, there are 234 cardinals, including 121 electors and 113 non-voters. From December 8, the number of electors will be expanded to 140. Because among the new ones to be created, one will be non-voting (Mgr. Angelo Acerbi - 99 years old -, emeritus apostolic nuncio in the Netherlands, who has proven his loyalty to the service of the sovereign pontiffs since Pope Pius XII, priest since 1948 on behalf of the diocese of Pontremoli in Italy) and one has withdrawn from the list (Mgr. Paskalis Bruno Syukur, 62 years old, currently secretary general of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference and bishop of Bogor in Indonesia, is withdrawing, in his words, "by his desire to grow further in priestly life, in the service of the Church and the people of God."

Tata Mpelo offers you here excerpts from Pope Francis' speeches over the past week. They are accompanied by links so that you can read the whole thing yourself.