Friday, November 01, 2013

Feast of All Saints


Feast of All Saints - Saints.SQPN.com

Instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown. It owes its origin in the Western Church to the dedication of the Roman Pantheon in honuor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the martyrs by Pope Saint Boniface IV in 609, the anniversary of which was celebrated at Rome on 13 May. Pope Saint Gregory III consecrated a chapel in the Vatican basilica in honor of All Saints, designating 1 November as their feast. Pope Gregory IV extended its observance to the whole Church. It has a vigil and octave, and is a holy day of obligation; the eve is popularly celebrated as Hallowe’en.

(Image From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Pope Francis ranks among Forbes' most powerful people


News from RomeReports.com

Who are the most powerful people in the world? According to Forbes magazine, first on the list is Russia's president, then the United States followed by China. Fourth on the list is Pope Francis.  

So Vladimir Putin takes the number one slot, then Barack Obama, followed by the Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping. 

Forbes magazine explains that since Pope Francis was elected in March, a new wave of energy was given to Catholicism, the world's largest religion with over 1.2 billion people. The magazine notes that Pope Francis also has a presence in social media. On Twitter alone, he already has over 10 million followers. He's also the first Pope to have taken a picture of himself with a cell phone. 

The ranking places the Latin American pope above others political and financial leaders like Angela Merkel and Bill Gates.