VATICAN (SE): The Vatican sponsored its first Women Consultation Group to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. The first gathering was made up of 37 women from a variety of fields including medicine, journalism, theology and politics, among others.

VATICAN (SE): Despite expectations that Pope Francis may have put forward the topic of priesthood as the theme for the next Synod of Bishops, he has named young people as the theme for research and discussion.

In an interview published by the German newspaper, Die Zeit, on March 8, he gave a strong hint as to why, when he admitted that ordaining married men in some special circumstances could well evolve as a possibility in the future.

VATICAN (SE): Pope Francis held an audience with the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum convened by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, which was being held in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on February 15.

Pope Francis stressed that indigenous peoples have the right to be correctly informed about the any development that changes the nature of their tribal lands, as well as probable economic and environmental consequences when their consent for projects is being sought.

ROME (SE): For the first time in history an Anglican Choral Evensong will be celebrated at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on March 13.

This date has been chosen as it is the nearest available day to the historic feast of St. Gregory the Great, who has become an unofficial patron of relations between the two Churches.

VATICAN (SE): In a booklet launched on February 14 directly addressing the controversial Chapter Eight of Pope Francis’ The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia), penned at the conclusion of the 2016 Synod of Bishops on Marriage and Family Life, Francisco Cardinal Coccopalmerio sets out to effectively break down barriers that may exist between doctrine and pastoral ministry.

ROME (SE): The city of Rome awoke on the morning of February 4 to see large, glossy posters featuring Pope Francis plastered on billboards at 40 locations around the city asking him where his compassion and mercy are in the midst of the series of persecutions he has been carrying out against certain sectors of the Church since he took over the papacy.

ROME (SE): A recent article in the Italian Jesuit journal, Civilta Cattolica, raises questions about the teaching of Pope John Paul II that women can never be ordained to the priesthood.

The publication of the article is significant, because the contents of the journal are approved by the Vatican before going to print.

VATICAN (SE): In calling for a review of the work of the 2001 instruction from Pope Benedict XVI that saw a radical change in the translations of the texts of the Roman Missal from Latin into English, French and, in some countries, Spanish, Pope Francis has ordered a review of the principles governing the mode of liturgical translation.