Editor’s Note: Are there lessons here for all clerical assemblies, no matter what background? Source: The New York Times By LAURIE GOODSTEIN As Pope Francis convened a closed meeting on Tuesday with eight cardinals he appointed to overhaul the Vatican, he used his second revealing interview in two weeks to make a barbed indictment of the failings of the Roman Catholic Church, calling it overly clerical and insular, interested in temporal power and often led by “narcissists.” “Heads of the church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers,” he said in the interview, published Tuesday and conducted by one of Italy’s most outspoken…
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Source: Vatican Information Service [UPDATED – See Related Story at bottom of article] Vatican City, 8 May 2013 (VIS) – From 9 to 13 May, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, will come to Rome to meet with His Holiness Pope Francis. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt has about ten million faithful. This large membership makes the Coptic Church one of the most important elements in the ecclesial landscape of the Middle East where, in recent times, Christian communities are having…
Source: Ekathimerini.com The Church of Greece and the Vatican are putting the final touches to an agreement for the joint promotion of religious tourism, the cleric leading the Greek side of the initiative said on Thursday. An initial agreement reached last week by Greek and Italian clerics foresees the mutual promotion of religious sites including churches and monasteries, Bishop Chrysostomos of Dodoni told a conference in Thessaloniki on Thursday. Several firms have expressed interest in working with the Synod’s office to produce CDs and DVDs introducing visitors to Greece’s religious sites, the bishop said. The agreement follows a similar pact…