Papacy

By Chelsea Stieber, Tulane University (The Conversation) – Early coverage of Pope Leo XIV has explored the first American pontiff’s Chicago upbringing, as well as the many years he spent in Peru, first as a missionary and then as a bishop. Genealogist Jari Honora broke the story of the pope’s ancestors’ connection to the Creole […]

Israel/ Palestine

Pope’s final Wish: his Car to become a mobile Clinic for Gaza’s Children

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – Swedish Television announced on Sunday a humanitarian initiative to convert the late Pope Francis’s car—used during his 2014 visit to Bethlehem—into a mobile clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling his final wish. The initiative is being carried out in coordination between Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas […]

Islam

Pope Francis encouraged Christian-Muslim Dialogue and helped break down Stereotypes

The Conversation

By Craig Considine, Rice University (The Conversation) – Pope Francis’ pontificate marked a distinct shift in the Catholic Church’s engagement with the Muslim world. While his predecessors fostered dialogue and tolerance, Francis sought more active engagement with Muslims, particularly in the Middle East. Francis framed his efforts around the “culture of encounter,” which he explained […]

Featured

Pope Francis’s Enduring Legacy on Palestine and the Middle East

Ibrahim Al-Marashi

By Mohammad Eslami and Ibrahim Marashi | – Braga, Portugal and San Marcos, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The world now grieves the loss of Pope Francis, a spiritual titan whose moral compass and unwavering voice for the marginalized reverberated far beyond the confines of Vatican walls. At the heart of his papacy […]

Featured

How Pope Francis Divinized Palestinian Suffering: The Gaza Pietà

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrant parents, is dead at 88 after a prolonged illness. Almost alone of Western leaders, he showed enormous sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian civilians of Gaza. He called the small Catholic community there every evening. […]

Christianity

Three Ways Pope Francis influenced the Global Climate Movement

The Conversation

By Celia Deane-Drummond, University of Oxford The death of Pope Francis has been announced by the Vatican. I first met the late Pope Francis at the Vatican after a conference called Saving Our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth in July 2018. My colleagues and I sensed something momentous was happening at […]

Featured

Pope Francis: “I Think of Gaza, of so much Cruelty, of the Children Machine-Gunned”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On the Sunday before Christmas, Pope Francis said, “May the weapons be silenced and Christmas carols resound!” according to Kristina Molare at the Catholic News Agency. The Pope continued, in a clear condemnation of the Israeli government, “With sorrow I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty; of the children […]

Christianity

Pope Francis Calls for Painstaking Investigation into Whether Israeli War on Gaza is a Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Pope Francis has a new book, Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world. The English version is not out yet, but I was able to find the Italian. It calls for an investigation into whether the Israeli war on Gaza is a genocide. The Pope mentions Gaza on several […]

Featured

Ayatollah Sistani Affirms Religious Freedom to Pope Francis in HIstoric Iraq Meeting

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Saturday, Pope Francis met in the holy city of Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader of most of the world’s Shiite Muslims outside Iran. Back in 2004 when US Marines were fighting young Shiite militiamen in Najaf (quite against Sistani’s will), I tried to signal to […]