5 h. ago 'Leo will follow Francis.' Amazon Catholics hope the new pope will protect the rain forest

For years before becoming Pope Leo XIV — as a parish priest and then bishop in Peru — Robert Prevost built ties with interfaith environmental networks and Indigenous organizations to place forest protection and rights at the center of Church concern

Politics

24 h. ago An American has become pope. Will he be the moral leader we desperately need? | Arwa Mahdawi

Pope Francis spoke for the most vulnerable, from Palestinians in Gaza to immigrants in the US. Let’s hope that Leo will follow in his footstepsAmerica is back, baby. Not only has the Gulf of Mexico been successfully Americanized, the Vatican is now officially US territory. OK, fine, not officially, but, on Thursday, the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was announced as pope. The 69-year-old, who has taken the papal name Leo XIV, is the first clergyman from the United States to lead the Roman Catholic church.While Prevost was a frontrunner for the papacy, his victory seems to have taken many experts by surprise. There has long been resistance to an American pope for a number of reasons, including the fact that it might make it appear as if the Vatican is aligned with the world’s strongest economic and military power. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago What do Catholics around the world hope for from a new pope? Some wish for a version of Pope Francis

Among the roughly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, many are keenly anticipating the upcoming conclave at the Vatican at which members of the College of Cardinals will elect a successor to Pope Francis

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5 d. ago Indigenous Catholics hope the next pope shares Francis' approach to Native people

Many Indigenous Catholics saw an ally in Pope Francis who championed their causes, asked forgiveness for the church’s historical wrongs and allowed them to incorporate aspects of their Native cultures into practicing their faith

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9 d. ago Visa wants to give artificial intelligence 'agents' your credit card

Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf

Politics

2 w. ago Who are the Swiss Guards watching over Pope Francis’s lying in state?

They date back to the 16th century when mercenaries first served Pope Julius II and form the world’s smallest armyWith their feathered helmets, ruffled collars and coloured, puffed-sleeve uniforms, the Vatican Swiss Guards are often likened by curious visitors to medieval court jesters.But appearances can be deceiving. The world’s smallest army, whose primary role is to protect the pope, has been rigorously trained and with no living pontiff to protect right now will join the huge security operation involving specialist Italian police units and the military given the task of keeping watch over Vatican City and Rome during the funeral of Pope Francis and the subsequent conclave. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Pope Francis saw environmental and climate issues as moral concerns

In his landmark 2015 encyclical “Praised Be,” Pope Francis cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern

Politics

2 w. ago Ecuador's deadly paradise where 'Brit was lynched and burned alive': Brutal gangs hide in Amazon rain forest eco parks on Colombian border which tourists are warned not to enter

Idyllic rivers snaking through the lush rain forest in Amazon eco reserves hide the deadly violence ripe in the Ecuador-Colombia border region where a man was just savagely lynched.

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