Pope Francis travelled to northern Italy to celebrate the 90th birthday of his second cousin Carla Rabezzana with his Italian relatives, this past weekend, the Catholic News Agency reported. Picture: Reuters
Rome – Pope Francis travelled to northern Italy to celebrate the 90th birthday of his second cousin Carla Rabezzana with his Italian relatives, this past weekend, the Catholic News Agency reported.
The pope, who is 85 years old, arrived by helicopter in the Italian province of Asti, east of Turin, on Saturday.
His cousin told Vatican News that she chatted to the pope at least once a month.
“And then we’ll have a chat, as we do at least once a month on the phone with relatives who love each other. I’ll ask him about his knee, which is hurting him now. He talks to me about it when we talk on the phone.”
On Tuesday, the pope issued a decree naming Pier Francesco Pinelli as temporary administrator of Caritas Internationalis.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
According to Vatican News, the decree also states that those serving as president, vice-presidents, general secretary, treasurer, and ecclesiastical assistant “shall cease from their respective offices”, and that Cardinal Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis until now, will assist Pinelli with the duties entrusted to him.
The pope gave a special shout-out on Wednesday to the Fifa World Cup taking place in Qatar.
He expressed his hope that the international soccer competition would foster fraternity and peace around the world.
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